Methods have been developed for the synthesis of 1,3,6,8-tetraazapyrene based on the reaction of 1,4,5,8-tetraaminonaphthalene with formic acid [1] and the synthesis of 2,7-dimethyl-1,3,6,8-tetraazapyrene based on the reaction of 6,7-diamino-2-methylperimidine with acetic anhydride [2]. These methods involve the use of not readily available starting reagents and are not general. In the present work, we propose a method for the synthesis of such compounds from available perimidine ketones 1a-c. Heating ketone 1a-c (1 mmol) and NaN 3 (0.26 g, 4 mmol) in PPA (2-3 g) at 70-80°C for 1 h and then at 100-110°C for 4 h with monitoring by thin-layer chromatography leads to 1,3,6,8-tetraazapyrenes 4a-c in 31-44% yield. The PPA sample containing 87% P 2 O 5 was prepared according to Uhlig [3].This reaction involves the intermediate formation of amides 2a-c, whose amination using sodium azide in PPA, as previously described for perimidines [4,5], leads to dihydro derivatives 3a-c, which are oxidized by atmospheric oxygen to give tetraazapyrenes 4a-c. 1-4 a R = R 1 = Me, b R = R 1 = Ph, c R = Ph, R 1 = Me