The orthoamide derivatives 4 react with amidines 10 and guanidines 11 to give 4-dimethylaminopyrimidines 12. The 3-dimethylamino-pyrazoles 13a - c can be prepared from orthoamides 4 and hydrazine. The hydrazine derivative 14, whose constitution was established by crystal structure analysis, is obtained in low yield when hydrazine is added dropwise to a boiling solution of 4d in THF. Methyl- and phenylhydrazine, undergo reaction with the orthoamides 4a, c yielding mixtures of the isomeric pyrazoles 19 and 20. The reaction of 4c with acylhydrazines 21a - e affords the pyrazole 13b. The pyrazole 26 is produced in the reaction of 4a and acet-hydrazide according to this scheme, whereas 4a reacts with aromatic acid hydrazides 21c - e to give condensation products, which are presumably amidrazones 28. The 4,5-diaza-octatetraene derivative 30 results from the reaction of 4c with p-toluenesulfonylhydrazide. Ketene aminals 34a - c are the products of the reaction of the orthoamides 4b - d with 4,4-dimethylthiosemicarbazide 34, which cyclize on heating to give highmelting pyrazolethiones 35a - c. According to the crystal structure analysis of 35c the compounds have zwitterionic character and are associated via hydrogen bridges in the solid state.