A polybenzimidazolone prepared by the condensation of 1,45,8-naphthalene tetracarboxylic acid and 3,3′-diaminobenzidine and several model compounds were thermally degraded (300-500°C) under inert and oxidative conditions. In every case only small fragments, i.e., carbon oxides, cyanogen (trace), and water, were detected by spectroscopic and chromatographic analysis of all phases of the pyrolysis products. The significance of these results is discussed in light of the mechanism by which this aromatic heterocyclic system undergoes oxidative degradation.