The kinetics and spectral characteristics of the transients formed in the reactions of • OH and •N3 with quinoxalin-2(1H)-one (Q), its methyl derivative, 3-methylquinoxalin- 2(1H)-one (3-MeQ) and pyrazin-2-one (Pyr) were studied by pulse radiolysis in aqueous solutions at pH 7. The transient absorption spectra recorded in the reactions of •OH with Q and 3-MeQ consisted of an absorption band with eλ max = 470 nm assigned to the OH-adducts on the benzene ring, and a second band with eλ max = 390 nm (for Q) and 370 nm (for 3-MeQ) assigned, inter alia, to the N-centered radicals on a pyrazin-2-one ring. The rate constants of the reactions of •OH with Q and 3-MeQ were found to be in the interval (5.9-9.7) × 109M-1•s-1 and were assigned to their addition to benzene and pyrazin-2-one rings and H-abstraction from the pyrazin-2-one nitrogen. In turn, the transient absorption spectrum observed in the reaction of •N3 exhibits an absorption ban