The kinetics and mechanism of iron(II) reduction of cis- α-chloro/bromo(cetylamine)(triethylenetetramine) cobalt(III) surfactant complex ions were studied spectrophotometrically in an aqueous acid medium by following the disappearance of CoIII using an excess of the reductant under pseudo-first-order conditions: [FeII] = 0.25 mol dm -3, [H+] = 0.1 mol dm-3, [μ] = 1.0 mol dm-3 ionic strength in a nitrogen atmosphere at 303, 308 and 313 K. The reaction was found to be second order and showed acid independence in the range [H+] = 0.05-0.25 mol dm-3. The second order rate constant increased with CoIII concentration and the presence of aggregation of the complex itself altered the reaction rate. The effects of [FeII], [H+] and [μ] on the rate were determined. Activation and thermodynamic parameters were computed. It is suggested that the reaction of Fe2+(aq) with CoIII complex proceeds by an inner-sphere mechanism. © Springer 2006.