Solvents were of the highest purity grade commercially available, and THF was freshly distilled over Na/benzophenone under a nitrogen atmosphere.Spectroscopic irradiations were performed using a low-output source (15 W) with emission centered at 300 nm in quartz cells 10 mm wide, equipped with a gas-tight rubber septum. Solutions (1.8 × 10-5 M) were equilibrated in air or thoroughly flushed by purging with argon for 15 min. Absorption spectra were recorded on a Varian 5000 UV-vis-near-IR spectrophotometer.Preparative irradiations were performed at room temperature, on 80 mL dichloromethane solutions of 1 (1.5 × 10 -3 M), using a highpressure Hg lamp (Helios Italquartz srl. 125 W) equipped with a glass cooling jacket, immersed in a borosilicate glass vessel under vigorous stirring. Nitrogen was gently purged for 30 min prior to the irradiation and the system was maintained under a nitrogen atmosphere during the reaction.Emission quantum yields were measured by means of a Varian Eclipse fluorimeter, for solutions with optical density ca. 0.1, using Cu II phtalocyanine in tetrahydrofuran as a reference standard. Corrections were performed for different refractive indexes of the solvents, for the optical density of the solutions, and for the different sensitivity of the photodetector.Cyclic voltammetry was performed in argon-flushed analyticalgrade dichloromethane solutions (4 × 10 -3 M), using a polished platinum working electrode, a platinum wire as the counter electrode and Ag/Ag + as the reference electrode. [(Bu) 4 N] + [PF 6 ] -was used as the supporting electrolyte and ferrocene was added as an internal reference. Scans were performed at 100 mV s