Phenytoin (diphenylhydantoin) was first synthesized by German chemist Heinrich Biltz in 1908 [REF].
According to Goodman and Gilman's Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics In contrast to the earlier accidental discovery of the antiseizure properties of bromide and phenobarbital, phenytoin was the product of a search among nonsedative structural relatives of phenobarbital for agents capable of suppressing electroshock convulsions in laboratory animals [REF].