The electrochemical and photophysical studies were carried out on 12 meso-furylporphyrins with three porphyrin cores such as N-4, N3S and N2S2. The studies supported a systematic variation of redox potentials, absorption and emission band shifts, quantum yields and lifetimes by successive replacement of one, two, three and four six membered meso-aryl groups of porphyrin with five membered meso-furyl groups. The maximum effects in electrochemical and spectral properties were observed for porphyrins with four meso-furyl groups. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.