Transient absorption spectroscopy is used to follow the reactive intermediates involved in the first steps in the photochemistry initiated by ultraviolet (266-nm wavelength) excitation of solutions of 1,5-hexadiene, isoprene, and 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene in carbon tetrachloride or chloroform. Ultraviolet and visible bands centered close to 330 and 500 nm in both solvents are assigned respectively to a charge transfer band of Cl-solvent complexes and the strong absorption band of a higher energy isomeric form of the solvent molecules (iso-CCl3-Cl or iso-CHCl2-Cl). These assignments are supported by calculations of electronic excitation energies. The isomeric forms have significant contributions to their structures from charge-separated resonance forms and offer a reinterpretation of previous assignments of the carriers of the visible bands that were based on pulsed radiolysis experiments. Kinetic analysis demonstrates that the isomeric forms are produced via the Cl-solvent complexes. Addition of the unsaturated hydrocarbons provides a reactive loss channel for the Cl-solvent complexes, and reaction radii and bimolecular rate coefficients are derived from analysis using a Smoluchowski theory model. For reactions of Cl with 1,5-hexadiene, isoprene, and 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene in CCl4, rate coefficients at 294 K are, respectively, (8.6 ± 0.8) × 10(9), (9.5 ± 1.6) × 10(9), and (1.7 ± 0.1) × 10(10) M(-1) s(-1). The larger reaction radius and rate coefficient for 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene are interpreted as evidence for an H-atom abstraction channel that competes effectively with the channel involving addition of a Cl-atom to a C═C bond. However, the addition mechanism appears to dominate the reactions of 1,5-hexadiene and isoprene. Two-photon excited CCl4 or CHCl3 can also ionize the diene or alkene solute.