The free base porphyrin, tetraphenyl porphyrin (TPP) and metalloporphyrins of Cu, Ag and Sri were synthesized and characterized by UV-Visible spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy, (1)H NMR spectroscopy and Elemental analysis. The results are discussed in the light of magnetic susceptibility, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and electron spin resonance spectroscopy (ESR). These porphyrins showed interesting semiconducting behaviour and were employed for trapping solar radiations for photocatalytic degradation of the azo dye methyl orange at different pH conditions. This reaction was studied as a model reaction for finding the photoactivities of these compounds.