AbstractHydroxymethylation of melamine with formaldehyde to formN‐(hydroxymethyl)melamine (2,4‐diamino‐6‐hydroxymethylamino‐1,3,5‐triazine) was investigated kinetically by the use of hydrogen phosphate/phosphate buffers in aqueous media at pH 11 − 12. This reaction was found to follow a general base catalysis which results from the kinetic investigation, showing that the reaction takes place by a concerted mechanism involving base, melamine, and formaldehyde. This mechanism differs from that of the base catalyzed hydroxymethylation of phenol or benzamide with formaldehyde, because the acidic phenol and benzamide easily form their conjugate bases by addition of the basic catalyst in a preceding equ