Fora variety of reasons, relating the photophysical properties of a copper phenanthroline to a structure in solution is problematic. To elucidate some of the issues involved, in this paper we describe the crystal and molecular structures of a series of Cu(NN)(2)(+)-containing systems along with spectral data obtained from the solids themselves. the NN ligands investigated are tmp (3,4,7,8-tetramethyl-1,10-phenanthroline dpdmp (2,9-diphenyl-4,7-dimethyl-1, 10-phenanthroline), dptmp (2,9-diphenyl-3,4,7,8-tetramethyl-1,10-phenanthroline), and dipp (2,9-diisoprepyl-1,10-phenanthroline). The results show that a flattening distortion can have a large impact on the spectroscopic properties of a Cu(NN)(2)(+) system, whereas a typical rocking distortion has comparatively little effect. The reflectance spectra of orange or orange-red salts that have approximately perpendicular phenanthroline ligands exhibit absorption bands in the neighborhood of 460 nm along with a shoulder at longer wavelength. In the other limit, when a pronounced flattening distortion occurs and the dihedral angle between ligands is 20 degrees or more off perpendicular, the reflectance spectrum exhibits two distinct visible bands with intense absorption occurring at 525 nm or even longer wavelength. If the phenanthroline ligand lacks bulky substituents in the 2,9 positions, the compound may even be purple, depending on the counterion. Cu(NN)(2)(+) complexes that contain phenyl substituents in the 2,9 positions and exhibit long-wavelength absorption in solution probably adopt a flattened structure in the ground electronic state. In most other systems ground-state flattening is a solid-state effect induced by lattice forces. However, a flattening distortion is an intrinsic attribute of the emissive excited state, although intra- or intermolecular forces can inhibit the effect. In the case of the Cu(dptmp)(2)(+) system, intramolecular steric interactions oppose flattening because the methyl groups in the 3,8 positions control the torsion angles of the neighboring phenyl groups. In the case of [Cu(tmp)(2)]BPh4, packing interactions induce a small flattening in the crystal, but they also constrain the degree of distortion that can occur in the excited state. As a consequence [Cu(tmp)(2)]BPh4 exhibits a weak photoluminescence in the solid phase (tau = 15 ns). This is the first report of emission from a bis(phenanthroline)copper(I) system that does not have bulky substituents in the 2 and/or 9 positions of the ligand. The [Cu(tmp)(2)]BPh4 system crystallizes in space group P2(1)/n with a = 17.4883(4) Angstrom, b = 9.86860(10) Angstrom, c = 26.3747(6) Angstrom, alpha = 90 degrees, beta = 97.7021(8)degrees, gamma = 90 degrees, V = 4510.8(3) Angstrom(3), and Z = 4. For 12 948 unique data with F-o(2) > 2 sigma(F-o(2)), R = 6.5%. The [Cu(dpdmp)(2)]PF6 system crystallizes in space group P2/n with a = 16.0722(13) Angstrom, b = 8.1100(7) Angstrom, c = 16.8937(10) Angstrom, alpha = 90 degrees, beta = 93.947(5)degrees, gamma = 90 degrees, V = 2196.8(5) Angstrom(3), and Z = 2. For 2833 unique data with F-o(2) > 2 sigma(F-o(2)), R = 6.0%. The [Cu(dptmp)(2)]PF6. THF system crystallizes in space group P (1) over bar with a 12.8486(4) Angstrom, b = 13.7341(1) Angstrom, c =15.1678(3) Angstrom, alpha = 99.5819(14)degrees, beta = 96.7263(13)degrees, gamma = 97.3311(12)degrees, V = 2591.3(2) Angstrom(3), and Z = 2. For 13 753 unique data with F-o(2) > 2 sigma(F-o(2)), R = 7.4%. Finally, the [Cu(dipp)(2)]TFPB system crystallizes in space group P (1) over bar with a 14.2523(3) Angstrom, b = 16.0496(4) Angstrom, c = 17.5801(3) Angstrom, alpha = 112.4150(13)degrees, beta = 105.7480(13)degrees, gamma = 99.6078(11)degrees, V = 3408.7(3) Angstrom(3), and Z = 2. For 8774 unique data with F-o(2) > 2 sigma(F-o(2)), R = 9.3%.