The degradation of the carboxylic acid group has been examined with respect to potential pretreatment strategies for fossil fuel conversion processes. In one potential pretreatment strategy involving cation exchange of the carboxylic acid group, a series of benzoic acid and stearic acid salts have been chosen to model the tight''carboxylic acids of immature fossil fuel feedstocks and have been pyrolyzed with an entrained flow reactor. Our preliminary results indicate that Group I and II salts yield primarily the parent acid. Benzoate salts also yield small amounts of benzene while the stearic acid salts give no other detectable products. In two alternative treatment strategies, esterification and anhydride preparation have also been accomplished with these compounds being subjected to the entrained flow reactor conditions. The benzoate esters give a number of products, such as benzaldehyde, benzene, and low MW gases. The formation of these compounds is extremely dependent on pyrolysis conditions and alkoxy chain length. A xenon flashlamp and an entrained flow reactor have been used to heat organic substrates to varying temperatures using different heating rates. Ultrarapid flashlamp pyrolysis (heating rate>10{sup 50}C/s) has been performed. Since the ultrarapid pyrolysis products differ from those observed with traditional heating techniques and differ from the products formed photochemically, the flashlamp pyrolysis products are attributed to high temperature thermal activation.