The gas-phase generation and spectroscopic identification of nitrile sulfides by thermolysis of 1,2,5-thiadiazole precursors was attempted, but in all cases the thiadiazoles were found to produce sulfur and the corresponding nitrile. This prompted an investigation by ab initio and density functional calculations for the equilibrium geometries, stabilities, and decomposition mechanisms of several nitrile sulfides (XCNS, where X = H, F, Cl, CN, CH3). Equilibrium geometries obtained from calculations at the B3LYP, MPn(n = 2-4), QCISD, QCISD(T), CCSD, and CCSD(T) levels with moderate to large basis sets indicate that the molecules have linear heavy atom geometries. The exception is the fluoro derivative, which is bent with a calculated barrier to linearity of 889 cm(-1) (B3LYP/cc-pVTZ). The nitrile sulfides are predicted by the B3LYP method to be stable in the dilute gas phase, whereas in the condensed phase they are suggested to be very unstable due to bimolecular decomposition. The mechanism of this loss process is complicated by various sulfur transfer and cyclization reactions between decomposition intermediates, with the predicted stable products bring sulfur, nitriles, and thiadiazoles. The first step of the bimolecular decomposition is either a cycloaddition to thiofuroxan or a sulfur transfer with simultaneous St loss to nitriles.