AH-B P A-.-+ HB P A-+ BH+ where each of the p-nitrophenol species is thermodynamically stable and has a different spectral absorption maximum. The kinetic data are consistent, however, with the single equilibrium AH+ B A-+ BH+(kf, kb) regardless of the monitoring wavelength. Values of the rate constants are kf=(3.1 f 0.5) X lo6 M-'S-'and kb=(9.0 f 1.1) X lo9 M-'s-'. Possible reasons for the observation of this unexpectedly simple behavior are ...