AbstractBoth photolytic and pyrolytic fragmentation of the oxadiazolone ring produces carbon dioxide and a residue which may exist in part as an intermediate azomethine nitrene and may react with or without rearrangement and/or further fragmentation. Rearrangement produces carbodiimides 2 and cyanamides 6. Thermal and photo‐isornerization of carbodiimides into cyanamides provides a key step in an explanation for the formation of the latter from an oxadiazolone. A highly selective cyclization produces a benzimidazole 3 when a suitable aryl subsliluent is at nitrogen. The formation ofN‐phenylbenzamidine 7a from 3‐phenyl‐4‐benzyloxadiazolone 5c requires a 1,4‐migration from carbon to nitrogen followed by hydrolysis. The same or similar migration of hydrogen and subsequent ring‐closure with dehydrogenation provides the formation of 2‐phenyl‐quinazoline 8. Products which require no rearrangement of the residue include amidines 7 and triazoles 10. A portion of each triazole corresponds to a nitrile, in turn a product along with a simple nitrene;, of more extensive fragmentation of the; oxadiazolone ring. Phenyl, benzyl, and cyclohexyl nitrenes are respectively detected by the isolation of aniline, benzaldehyde and cyclohexanone. Other recombination reactions bring about the formation of triphenyltriazine 13 and trip