Intramolecular photoinduced charge separation and recombination processes in a retinyl-C-60 dyad molecule (Ret-C-60) have been investigated in various solvents by time-resolved absorption and fluorescence techniques. Upon laser excitation of the C-60-moiety in nonpolar toluene, the intersystem crossing proceeded from the excited singlet state of the C-60-moiety (Ret-C-1(60)*) to the excited triplet state (Ret-C-3(60)*), followed by energy transfer yielding the excited triplet state of the retinyl-moiety ((3)Ret*-C-60) without charge separation. On the other hand, in polar solvents such as N,N-dimethylformamide and benzonitrile, the charge separation occurred from Ret-C-1(60)* at rate on the order of 10(10) s(-1). The quantum yield was close to unity in these polar solvents. Most parts of the ion pair (Ret(.+)-C-60(.-)) changed to Ret-C-3(60)* and (3)Ret*-C-60 by the charge recombination which took place at rate on the order of 10(9) s(-1). However, some parts of the charge-separated state were kept in microsecond time-region: The lifetimes of Ret(.+)-C-60(.-) were 16 mus and 19 mus in DMF and benzonitrile, respectively, which were as long as those of Ret-C-3(60)* and (3)Ret*-C-60, suggesting an equilibrium between the charge- separated state and the excited triplet states.