The reaction of mercury(II) hydroxide with 2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octabromo-5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin, [Formula: see text]( H 2P4−), to form the mercury(II) porphyrin [( TPPSBr 8) Hg ]4−( HgP 4−) was investigated in the pH range 6.2-8.5. The observed rate constant was first-order with respect to the mercury(II) concentration and decreased with increasing pH from pH 6.2 to 7.5 and then increased from pH 7.5 to 8.5. The rate expression was written as d [ HgP 4−]/dt = (kHPK−1[ H +]−1 + k H 2 P + k H 3P K 1[ H +])(1 + K1[ H +] + K−1[ H +]−1)−1[ Hg ( OH )2][ H 2 P 4−]. The kHP, kH2P and kH3P values were found to be (1.33 ± 0.02) × 108, (5.50 ± 0.08) × 106 and (1.40 ± 0.08) × 108 M −1 s−1 respectively, with K1 = [ H 3 P 3−][ H 2 P 4−]−1[ H +]−1 = 104.83 ± 0.04 and K−1 = [ HP 5−][ H +][ H 2 P 4−]−1 = 1010.02 ± 0.02. The activation parameters were [Formula: see text] and ΔS‡ HP = 226 ± 22 J K −1 mol −1 for the k HP path, [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] for the k H 2 P path and [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] for the k H 3 P path. The kinetic results show the high reactivity of mercury(II) hydroxide towards the protonated porphyrin.