The hepatic removal of albumin-bound substances from plasma requires that they dissociate from albumin. Using indirect methods, we and others have proposed that dissociation may be catalyzed by interaction of albumin with the liver cell surface. This study looked for direct evidence of catalysis by comparing the rate of dissociation of oleate from albumin in vitro with the rate observed within the sinusoids of perfused rat liver. No evidence for catalysis was found. The rate of hepatic oleate removal from dilute albumin solutions did not exceed but instead closely paralleled the rate predicted from the in vitro dissociation rate constant (0.14s-1). These results suggest that under some conditions the liver can remove unbound material from the sinusoids faster than it can be replenished by dissociation from albumin, resulting in dissociation-limited removal. However, dissociation of oleate does not appear to be catalyzed by the liver.