Tetra-2,3-pyridinoporphyrazines and the corresponding water-soluble N, N', N ", N " ' -tetramethyl-tetra-2,3-pyridinoporphyrazine complexes, containing central metal atoms; M = Ce, Sn, Si and Zn, were synthesized and their photochemical properties were investigated. The reductive quenching of pyridinoporphyrazines excited states, enhanced relative to phthalocyanines, was considered as the first photochemical step of dyes phototransformation in dimethylformamide (DMF) and dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) solutions under irradiation with visible light. Efficiency of singlet oxygen photosensitization decreases significantly in the row phthalocyanines, unquaternized, quaternized tetra-2,3-pyridinoporphyrazine metallocomplexes. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.