The 2,12 pyrrole positions of meso-tetraphenylporphyrin were functionalized through triple carbon–carbon bonds by C60 and ferrocene giving new electron donor–acceptor triads which have been characterized and studied by photophysical methods. The fluorescence spectra of the new compounds have been compared to those previously reported for similar compounds giving as a result an increase of the quantum efficiency based on the larger separation of fullerene from the porphyrin ring. On the contrary the efficiency decreases with the presence of a phenylene spacer between ferrocene and the macrocycle.