The rates of complexation of the 18-C-6 (1,4,7,10,13,16-hexaoxacyclooctadecane) with $K^+,;Ca^{2+},;Sr^{2+},;and;Ba^{2+}$ in methanol solution have been determined at 25$^{circ}C$ by a pressure-jump technique. The Eigen Winkler mechanism has been applied to interprete the kinetic data. The results suggest that the rate determining step of the complexation in methanol is the rearrangement of the ligand in the outer sphere ion-dipole pair to form a stable encapsulated complex of the metal ion by the crown ether.