A series of ionic and neutral alcohol soluble Cu(I) complexes were obtained by reaction of 2-(pentafluorophenyl)-1H-imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]-phenanthroline (ppipH), [Cu(MeCN)(4)]ClO4 and the chelating diphosphine ligands bis[(2-diphenylphosphino)phenyl]ether (POP), 4,6-bis(diphenylphosphino)phenoxazine (nixantphos), 9,9-dimethyl-4,5-bis(diphenylphosphino)-9H-xanthene (xantphos) and (+/-)-2,2'-bis (diphenylphosphino)-1,1'-binaphthalene (BINAP) in neutral and strong alkaline media, respectively. Most complexes display moderate to intense luminescence in the solid state and weak, negligible luminescence in EtOH solutions. The aggregation-induced emission for the Cu(I) complexes of flexible POP ligands in ethanol/water system was studied. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.