The kinetics and mechanism of the degradation reactions of substituted phenyl N-hydroxycarbamates and their N-methyl and N-phenyl analogues have been studied at pseudo-first-order reaction conditions in aqueous buffers and sodium hydroxide solutions at 20 [degree]C and 60 [degree]C and at I= 1 mol[middle dot]l(-1). The dependence of log k(obs) on pH for phenyl N-hydroxycarbamates at pH < 9 and pH > 13 is linear with the unit slope; at pH 10-12 log k(obs) is pH independent. The Bronsted coefficient [small beta](lg) is about -1 (pH 7-13) and -1.53 (pH > 13) indicating that the degradation reaction of phenyl N-hydroxycarbamates follows an E1cB mechanism giving the corresponding phenol/phenolate and HO-N[double bond, length as m-dash]C[double bond, length as m-dash]O. The latter species undergoes further decomposition to give carbonate, nitrogen and ammonia as final products. In contrast to the phenyl N-hydroxycarbamates the N-methyl derivatives at pH 7-9 undergo degradation to the corresponding phenol/phenolate, carbonate and methylamine via a concerted mechanism ([small beta](lg) is about -0.75). The only exception is 4-nitrophenyl N-hydroxy-N-methylcarbamate in which the predominant break down pathway proceeds via the Smiles rearrangement to give sodium N-methyl-(4-nitrophenoxy)carbamate. At pH > 9 the reaction of N-hydroxy-N-methylcarbamates is kinetically complex: the dependence of absorbance on time is not exponential and it proceeds as a consecutive two-step reaction. N-Hydroxy-N-phenylcarbamate under the same conditions undergoes degradation to phenol, carbonate, aniline and azoxybenzene.