Some important results from the past seven years on the ringchain tautomerism of 1,3-heterocycles are reviewed, including substituent effects on the tautomeric equilibria and synthetic applications of this phenomenon. The structures and reactivities of numerous five-and six-membered, saturated, N-unsubstituted 1,3-X,N-heterocycles (X = O, S, NR) can be characterized by the ring-chain tautomeric equilibria of the 1,3-X,N-heterocycles and the corresponding Schiff bases;