Reaction of N-benzoyloxy-N-methyl-4-aminoazobenzene (N-benzoyloxy-MAB) or N-acetoxy-N-acetyl-2-aminofluorene (N-acetoxy-AAF), model ultimate aromatic amine or amide carcinogens, with [purine-14C]DNA at pH 7.4 or reaction of N-hydroxy-2-aminofluorene (N-hydroxy-AF) at pH 4.6 resulted in the rapid release of 14C-containing products not precipitable with the DNA. Four such products were obtained on reaction with N-acetoxy-AAF, two with N-hydroxy-AF, and six with N-benzoyloxy-MAB. Depending on the DNA sample used, the total amounts of 14C in these products from the reactions with N-benzoyloxy-MAB or N-acetoxy-AAF ranged from about 5% to as much as 30-40% of the amounts in the N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-MAB or N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-AFF residues in the DNA from the same reaction mixtures. Reactions with N-acetoxy-[acetyl-3H]AAF showed that the two major products retained the amide residue from the N-acetoxy-AAF. When the reactions were carried out with [guanine-(8-3H; 8-14C); adenine-(2,8-3H; 8-14C)]DNA, the two major products formed from N-acetoxy-AAF and four products formed from N-benzoyloxy-MAB had very low 3H:14C ratios; these ratios were those expected for guanine derivatives which had lost the 8-3H. Studies on the major DNA adducts N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-MAB and N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-AAF indicated that the new adducts were not formed from these nucleosides. The data suggest that the two major AAF products and the four MAB adducts studied are guanine derivatives formed by depurination of N-7 substituted adducts in the DNA.