The ability to exhibit persistent spectral hole burning has been established for the stereoisomers of dibenzobarrelene-substituted tetraazabaeteriochlorin (cis-TABC and traps-TABC) incorporated in inorganic silicate xerogel and organic polymer (polyvinyl butyral) matrices. Hole burning properties of these molecules absorbing light at similar to790 nm have been studied. For the inorganic matrix, the efficiency of hole burning is higher and the relative depth of the hole and its width are larger than for the organic matrix polymer. These facts are explained by the formation of labile intermolecular hydrogen bonds between the surface hydroxyl groups of the matrix pores and the nitrogen atoms of the embedded molecules in the TABC-xerogel system.