Bisureido- and a bisthioureido-substituted dibenzobarrelene derivative were synthesized and the photoreactivity of two representative examples were studied. Direct irradiation of the ureido-substituted derivative induces a di-π-methane rearrangement to the corresponding dibenzosemibullvalene derivative, whereas the thioureido-substituted derivative is almost photoinert. Complexes of the latter derivative with chloride, carboxylates, or sulfonate anions, however, are efficiently transformed to the dibenzosemibullvalene product upon irradiation, presumably by suppressing the self-quenching of the thiourea units in the complex. The association of the ureido-substituted dibenzobarrelene derivative with (