Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pentobarbital is a short-acting barbiturate that was first synthesized in 1928. Pentobarbital is available as both a free acid and a sodium salt, the former of which is only slightly soluble in water and ethanol. One trade name for this drug is Nembutal, coined by Dr. John S. Lundy, who started using it in 1930, from the structural formula of the sodium salt Na (sodium) + ethyl + methyl + butyl + al (common suffix for barbiturates). Pentobarbital''s FDA approved human uses include treatment of seizures and preoperative (and other) sedation; it is also approved as a short-term hypnotic. n France and the Netherlands, it is no longer used in the treatment of insomnia, nor as a preanesthetic.