Photophysical properties of 5-(4-acetamidophenyl)-10,15,20-tris(N-methylpyridinium-3-yl)porphyrin trichloride and its Zn(II) complex

•Photophysical properties of two porphyrin photosensitizers studied.•Absorption and fluorescence spectra measured in different solvents.•Fluorescence decays measured by time-correlated single photon counting.•Optimized structures calculated at the TD-B3LYP/6-31++G(d,p) level of theory.•The triplet excited state lifetimes measured by laser flash photolysis.