The interaction of the potential-sensitive extrinsic probe oxonol VI with beef heart submitochondrial particles has been investigated under time resolved and equilibrium conditions. The time course of the probe absorption spectrum red shift induced by ATP or NADH injection into a suspension of submitochondrial particles in a dye solution is biphasic, consisting of a faster process described by a second-order rate law with k2 approximately 3 x 10(5) M-1 sec-1. For the ATP pulse experiments, the slower process follows first-order kinetics with k1 approximately 0.3 sec-1. In oxygen pulse experiments to an anaerobic dye-particle system, the slower process is not significantly developed due to rapid depletion of the oxygen, but the faster process follows second-order kinetics with the same rate of the oxygen, but the faster process follows second-order kinetics with the same rate constant as for the ATP and NADH cases. Evidence for permeation of the submitochondrial particle membrane by oxonol VI has been obtained; the slower process is interpretable as describing the permeation of the membrane bilayer. The results of the time-resolved work are consistent with a mechanism involving a redistribution of the dye from the bulk phase to the particle membrane. The value of the second-order rate constant for passive binding of the dye to submitochondrial particles is not compatible with a mechanism proposed to explain the microsecond probe response times in bilayer and excitable membrane experiments nor are such rapid signals observed in the oxonol VI-submitochondrial particle system.