The trithionate chlorine dioxide reaction has been studied spectrophotometrically in a slightly acidic medium at 25.0 +/- 0.1 degrees C in acetate/acetic acid buffer monitoring the decay of chlorine dioxide at constant ionic strength (1 = 0.5 M) adjusted by sodium perchlorate. We found that under our experimental conditions two limiting stoichiometries exist and the pH, the concentration of the reactants, and even the concentration of chloride ion affects the actual stoichiometry of the reaction that can be augmented by an appropriate linear combination of these limiting processes. It is also shown that although the formal kinetic order of trithionate is strictly one that of chlorine dioxide varies between 1 and 2, depending on the actual chlorine dioxide excess and the pH. Moreover, the otherwise sluggish chloride ion, which is also a product of the reaction, slightly accelerates the initial rate of chlorine dioxide consumption and may therefore act as an autocatalyst. In addition to that, overshoot-undershoot behavior is also observed in the [ClO2]-time curves in the presence of chloride ion at chlorine dioxide excess. On the basis of the experiments, a 13-step kinetic model with 6 fitted kinetic parameter is proposed by nonlinear parameter estimation.