Outstanding luminescence from neutral copper(i) complexes with pyridyl-tetrazolate and phosphine ligandsElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. CCDC 922230922235. For ESI and crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic format see DOI: 10.1039/c3cc42280a

Strongly luminescent, neutral copper( i ) complexes bearing 5-(2-pyridyl)tetrazolate and various phosphine ligands were synthesized. While the cationic copper( i ) precursors 1b4b do not exceed photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQY) of 446%, the neutral complexes 1a4a show PLQYs of up to 89%. Strongly luminescent, neutral Cu( i ) complexes bearing 5-(2-pyridyl)tetrazolate and various phosphine ligands were synthesized. While the cationic counterparts do not exceed photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQY) of 446%, the neutral Cu( i ) complexes show PLQYs of up to 89%.