The UV photolysis of [2.2]paracyclophan-ene (3) and benzo-[2.2]paracyclophan-ene (4), matrix-isolated in argon at 10 K, results in the cleavage of the ethano bridge and formation of compounds 5 and 8 , respectively. The IR and UV/Vis spectra are compared with p-xylylene and the benzyl radical as models for a quinoid or diradicaloid structure. The absence of an ESR signal reveals a singlet ground state for these compounds. Remarkable is a sharp absorption in the red part of the visible spectrum which is not observed in the case of pxylylene or the benzyl radical. The electronic structure can be described as quinoid with a substantial amount of diradicaloid character.[2,2]Paracyclophane (1) and its derivatives are highly strained molecules with unusual properties and have been the target of many synthetic and mechanistic studies"]. Due to the high strain energy thermolysis or photolysis of [2.2]paracyclophanes results in the rupture of one of the ethylene bridges as the primary process to give a pair of benzyl radicals linked by the second bridge. The photochemistry of 1 was studied by Helgeson and Cramf21 in 1966, and by ethanol trapping experiments diradical 2 was postulated as the key intermediate. Later, the formation of 2 was observed directly by UV/V~S[~], ESR and luminescence spectr~scopy [~] in organic glasses at 77 K. ESR spectra obtained by Nagakura et al.L5] clearly reveal the triplet ground state of 2 with the distance of the radical centers depending on the viscosity of the organic glass. The electronic structure is described best as a benzyl radical pair linked by an ethano bridge. These authors were also able to prove that the cleavage of 1 to 2 is a two-photon process proceeding via excited triplet states TFZ. to non-planar diracials with some through-bond coupling of the radical centers corresponding to quinoid structuresL6I. In this paper we report on the photochemistry of 3 and 4 and characterization of the primary photoproducts by using the matrix-isolation te~hnique"~]. Irradiation of cyclophan-ene 3, matrix-isolated in argon at 10 K, with 248-nm (KrF excimer laser) or 254-nm light (low-pressure mercury arc lamp) results in a yellow-green coloring of the matrix and appearance of a series of sharp absorptions in the UV/Vis spectrum at 376, 402, 430, and 600 nm (Figure 1). In an organic glass (methylcyclohexane/ pentane) at 77 K the absorptions in the blue region of the spectrum are red-shifted to 398, 424, and 456 nm, respectively, and the 600-nm absorption is missing. The new absorptions are assigned to compound 5, which can be described as diradical 5a or bis(p-xylylenyl) (5b). The difference in the UV/Vis spectra of 5 in solid argon and in or-