2-Pyridyliminopropadienone 6 is formed together with 2-aminopyridine on flash vacuum thermolysis (FVT) of 2-pyridylamino-pyridopyrimidinone 16a and observed by Ar matrix IR spectroscopy, but the two products recombine on warming to room temperature to regenerate the starting material. FVT of the picolinylamino-pyridopyrimidinones 16b and 16c generated mixtures of pyridyliminopropadienone 6 and picolinyliminopropadienones 19b and 19c, respectively. These reactions can be understood in terms of fragmentation of the open-chain bis(2-pyridylamino)methyleneketene intermediates 20 or the thermal interconversion of pyridopyrimidinones 16 and mesoionic pyridopyrimidinium olates 21. 2-Thiazoyliminopropadienone 28 was obtained in an analogous manner by FVT of the 2-(methylthio)thiazolopyrimidinone 24. However, the corresponding dihydro derivative 31 yielded cyanoketene 36 as the major product.