Crystal structures of nitrosobenzene cycloadducts 5–7 reveal structural effects consistent with the early stages of the retro Diels–Alder fragmentation. There is a clear differentiation between the structure parameters of cycloadduct 5, which reacts by a concerted synchronous pathway and that of cycloadduct 6, which must react by a two-step pathway. Based on these data, cycloadduct 7 is predicted to react by a highly asynchronous or two-step pathway.