Hematoporphyrin IX dimethyl ester (HPDME), tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP), tetra(4-methoxyphenyl)porphyrin (TMPP), tetra(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)porphyrin (TDMPP), tetra(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)porphyrin (TTMPP), tetraanthrylporphyrin (TAP) and tetraacridylporphyrin (TACP), and their Zn²⁺, SnX₂²⁺, Pd²⁺ and Pt²⁺ complexes have been prepared and characterized. The singlet molecular oxygen quantum yield (ϕ_Δ) values of the above porphyrins and their metal derivatives in N,N-dimethyl formamide (DMF) have been measured in the presence of 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran (DPBF) as¹O₂ acceptor using steady state technique after correcting for the intensity of light absorbed by the photosensitizers. The ϕ_Δ values for the free base porphyrins are usually around 0.60. Hematoporphyrin IX dimethyl ester and its metal derivatives follow the order: HPDME (ϕ_Δ = 0.60) > Zn HPDME (0.40) > PdHPDME (0.34) > Sn(OH)₂ HPDME (0.28) > PtHPDME (0.24). Zinc(II) complexes of tetraarylporphyrins show about 65% efficiency in ϕ_Δ values are compared to the ϕ_Δ values of their corresponding free base porphyrins. These results can be explained on the basis of catalyzed intersystem crossing to the ground state. The ϕ_λ values of the above free base porphyrins and their metal complexes in DMF in presence of DPBF using single-pulsed laser excitation technique follow similar trends.