The pressure-jump relaxation method has been used to determine the rate constants for the formation and dissociation of maganese(Ⅱ), cobalt(Ⅱ), and nickel(Ⅱ) with some dicarboxylates in aqueous solution at zero ionic strength. The carboxylate ligands used are 3-nitrophthalate, 4-nitrophthalate, and phenylmalonate. The activation parameters have alse been obtained from the temperature dependence of the rate constants. A dissociative interchange mechanism with a chelate ring closure step as rate determining is employed to interpret the kinetic data of manganese(Ⅱ) and cobalt(Ⅱ) complexes. The rates of formation of nickel(Ⅱ) complexes are controlled by both the solvent exchange step and the chelate ring closure step.