Three dyad molecules, each consisting of a porphyrin (P) linked to a quinone (Q) through a rigid bicyclic bridge, have been prepared, and their photochemistry has been investigated using time-resolved fluorescence and absorption techniques. In all three molecules, photoinduced electron transfer from the porphyrin first excited singlet state to the quinone occurs with rate constants of similar to 10(12) s(-1) in solvents ranging in dielectric constant from similar to 2.0 to 25.6 and at temperatures from 77 to 295 K. The transfer rate is also relatively insensitive to thermodynamic driving force changes up to 0.4 eV. This behavior is phenomenologically similar to photosynthetic electron transfer. The rapid rate of photoinduced electron transfer and its lack of dependence on environmental factors suggests that transfer is governed by intramolecular vibrations. Charge recombination of P-.+-Q(.-), on the other hand, is substantially slower than charge separation and sensitive to both driving force and environmental conditions. Thus, by changing conditions, charge recombination rates can be varied over a wide range while photoinduced electron transfer rates are relatively unaffected. This suggests that rigid dyads of this general type may be useful building blocks for more complex molecular devices.