The thermochemical properties of melamine and cyanuric acid were characterized using mass spectrometry measurements along with computational studies. A triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer was employed with the application of the extended Cooks kinetic method. The proton affinity (PA), gas-phase basicity (GB), and protonation entropy (⌬ p S) of melamine were determined to be 226.2 Ϯ 2.0 kcal/mol, 218.4 Ϯ 2.0 kcal/mol, and 26.2 Ϯ 2.0 cal/mol K, respectively. The deprotonation enthalpy (⌬ acid H), gas-phase acidity (⌬ acid G), and deprotonation entropy (⌬ acid S) of cyanuric acid were determined to be 330.7 Ϯ 2.0 kcal/mol, 322.9 Ϯ 2.0 kcal/mol, and 26.1 Ϯ 2.0 cal/mol K, respectively. The geometries and energetics of melamine, cyanuric acid, and related ionic species were calculated at the B3LYP/6-31ϩG(d) level of theory. The computationally predicted proton affinity of melamine (225.9 kcal/mol) and gas-phase deprotonation enthalpy of cyanuric acid (328.4 kcal/mol) agree well with the experimental results. Melamine is best represented as the imide-like triazine-triamine form and the triazine nitrogen is more basic than the amino group nitrogen. Cyanuric acid is best represented as the keto-like tautomer and the N-H group is the most probable proton donor. (J Am Soc Mass Spectrom 2010, 21, 1720 -1729