The thermal decompositions of pyrazine, pyrimidine, and pyridine in shock waves have been investigated using the complementary techniques of laser-schlieren (LS) densitometry and time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry (1600−2300 K, 150−350 Torr). A free radical chain reaction with initiation by ring C−H fission in the pyrolyses of all three azines is proposed. The measured C−H fission rates are compared and analyzed by RRKM theory. Barriers of 103 ± 2 kcal/mol for pyrazine, 98 ± 2 for pyrimidine, and 105 ± 2 for pyridine have been determined, supporting values lower than the barrier for C−H fission in benzene, 112 kcal/mol. The lower barriers for the azines are explained by the additional contributions of resonance structures of azyl radicals due to neighboring N−C interactions, which serve to further stabilize the azyl radicals. Detailed chain mechanisms are constructed to model the LS profiles and the TOF concentration profiles of the major products, hydrogen cyanide, acetylene, cyanoacetylene, and diacetylene. Of particular interest are the TOF observations and the mechanistic explanation of temperature dependent maxima seen in the formation of cyanoacetylene in the presence or absence of excess H2.