The equilibrium constant, Kan,HrCO,, for the formation of a-aminoacetonitrile from formaldehyde, ammonia and hydrogen cyanide was evaluated at 25 "C. A first estimation of Kan,WzC.j, was obtained from extrathermodynamic relationships of the type log K' vs Xu*. The final value was then obtained from a comparison of the experimental and calculated pH dependences of a-hydroxy-and a-aminoacetonitrile concentrations. From these results, it appears that, after equilibrium, the ratio between the concentrations of the two precursors glycine and hydroxyethanoic acid, is a linear function of the concentration of free ammonia, i.e. [CH,(OH)CN] I[CH,(NH,)CN] = 21[NH,] at 25 "C.