A comparison of the photochemical properties of three aromatic amino acids (tyrosine (Tyr), trytophan (Trp), phenylalanine (Phe)), five dipeptides (LeuTyr (Leu=leucine), TyrLeu, TyrTrp, TrpTyr, TyrTyr and one tripeptide (TyrTyrTyr) was carried out using high performance liquid chromatography; continuous wave low intensity and picosecond laser high intensity UV irradiation were employed. The photochemical sensitivity, photolysis quantum yield and quantum yield of peptide bond scission during laser UV irradiation were determined. A number of important relations for the quantum yield of the two-quantum photoreaction were derived. © 1990.