Thermal dimerization kinetics of 3‐(p‐bromo‐phenyl)‐pyridazinium benzoyl methylid in solutions

3‐(p‐Bromo‐phenyl)‐pyridazinium‐benzoyl methylid (BPPBM) participates in solution at 3 + 3 dipolar thermal dimerization that can be spectrally monitored by the extinction in its visible intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) band. The attenuation of ICT band intensity shows the decrease of the BPPBM concentration with the increasing of dimer concentration. The complex kinetics of light‐assisted dimerization process was studied taking into account that the thermodynamic equilibrium is reached after more than 24 h. On the basis of general order of reaction theory, we found that the dimerization reaction must be described as a multistep mechanism. The rate constants of the dimerization reactions in ethanol (k = 0.00897 s^?1) and benzene (k = 0.00774 s^?1) solutions were correlated with the BPPBM and dimer structural features established by using the HyperChem 5.02 simulation program package. A kinetic mechanism of 3 + 3 dipolar thermal dimerization for the studied ylid is proposed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 40: 230–239, 2008