The Fe^III abstraction from Fe^III/DFO and Fe^III/EDTA complex systems by thiosemicarbazone ligands derived from 2-acetylpyridine has been studied from a kinetico-mechanistic perspective at relevant pH conditions and at varying temperatures and buffer solutions. The reactions have been found to be extremely dependent on the dominant E/Z isomeric form of the TSC ligands present in the reaction medium. Consequently the isomerisation processes occurring on the free ligands have also been monitored under equivalent conditions. The isomerisation process is found to be acid dependent, despite the absence of protonation under the conditions used, and presumably proceeds via an azo-type tautomer of the ligand. In all cases the existence of outer-sphere interaction processes has been established, both promoting the reactions and producing dead-end complexes. The better oriented forms of the ligands (EZ thiolate) have been found to react faster with the [Fe(HDFO)]⁺ complex, although for mono-N⁴ substituted thiosemicarbazones the process is retarded by the formation of a dead-end outer-sphere complex. A comparison with the abstraction of Fe^III from [Fe(EDTA)(H₂O)]⁻ has also been conducted with significant differences in the kinetic features that implicate keystone outer-sphere interactions which dominate reactivity, even with isomeric forms that are not the best suited for direct complexation.