Suppression of the Jahn-Teller distortion in a six-coordinate copper(II) complex by doping it into a host lattice

The electronic structures of [Cu(terpy)(2)](2+) and [Cu(bpp)(2)](2+) (bpp = 2,6-di[pyrazol-1-yl]pyridine) are different, when doped into [M(bpp)(2)][BF4](2) (M2+ = Fe2+ or Zn2+). The [Cu(terpy)(2)](2+) dopant is a typical pseudo-Jahn-Teller elongated copper(II) center. However, the [Cu(bpp)(2)](2+) sites show EPR spectra consistent with a tetragonally compressed {d(z2)}(1) configuration.