The (meso-tetraphenylporphyrinato)magnesium(II) complexes with azido (1), cyanato-N (2), and thiocyanato-N (3) ligands were prepared by using 2.2.2-cryptand to solubilize the azide, cyanato, and thiocyanato salts in dichloromethane solvent. These species were characterized by UV/Vis and IR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and electrochemistry. The first reduction potential and the two first oxidation potentials of the porphyrin rings of these species are not affected by the nature of the axial ligand, and an unusual third irreversible oxidation of the porphyrin ring is observed. The anodic behavior of the magnesium azide derivative is complicated by the appearance of additional signals for ligand-centered electron transfers that originate from the release of the azido ligand of 1. The room-temperature fluorescence spectra of the magnesium complexes 1-3 indicate that the Soret and Q bands are not particularly affected by the nature of the axial ligands. The quantum yields of the S 1 ǞS 0 fluorescence are between 0.10 and 0.19, and the fluorescence lifetimes range between 3.7 and 6.1 ns at room temperature. Complexes 1-3 crystallize in the monoclinic crystal system in the same space