Abstract The reaction of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole, 2-mercaptobenzoxazole or 5-chloro-2- mercaptobenzothiazole with either acrylonitrile or acrylamide under basic conditions afforded the N-cyanoethylated products 1, 2 and 3 or the N-amidoethylated products 4, 5 and 6, respectively. The reaction of the sodium salts of the same thiazolethiols with 3- chloropropionitrile furnished a mixture containing the N-cyanoethylated products 1, 2 and ...