Stability constants are reported for the coordination of pyridine and substituted pyridines to the alkylcobalt(III) complexes of octaethylporphyrin (OEP), t-octaethylchlorin (OEC), and ttt-octaethylisobacteriochlorin (OEiBC) in toluene solution. The stability constants correlate with the base strength of the nitrogenous ligand, A cis-influence of the macrocycle saturation level on the stability constants is observed. Stability constants for coordination of a given pyridine ligand to an alkylcobalt(III) complex are roughly 10 times smaller than the stability constants for the corresponding cobalt(II) complex. Analysis of a thermodynamic cycle demonstrates that this leads to decreased stability of the complex with respect to Co-C bond homolysis upon ligand coordination, a "base-on" effect. Alkyl exchange occurs between cobalt complexes of different tetrapyrroles. Equilibrium data establish that the exchange is nonstatistical and that the Co-C bond is stabilized by increasing the saturation of the tetrapyrrole macrocycle.