We report the synthesis, characterization, and crystal structures of new ligands of the pyridinylpyrazole type, i.e., 3,5-bis(4-butoxyphenyl)-1-(pyridin-2-yl)-1H-pyrazole (L 1 ) and 3,5-bis(4-phenoxyphenyl)-1-(pyridin-2-yl)-1H-pyrazole (L 2 ) (Scheme 1), and the study of their coordination behavior towards Cu I and Cu II . The versatility of this type of ligand, which can give access to different coordination spheres about the metal center, depending on the nature of the copper starting material used in the preparation of the complexes (Scheme 2), is illustrated. Thus, pseudo-tetrahedral Cu I as well as six-coordinated tetragonal and distorted tetragonal pyramidal Cu II derivatives were obtained for [Cu(L) 2 ]PF 6 , [Cu(Cl) 2 (L) 2 ] (L L 1 , L 2 ), and [Cu(Cl)(L 1 ) 2 ]PF 6 , respectively. We also present a crystallographic support of a distorted octahedral cis-bis(tetrafluoroboratokF)copper(II) compound found for [Cu(BF 4 ) 2 (L 1 ) 2 ] (3).Introduction. ± Chelating ligands based on the pyrazole ring have been developed extensively in the last years [1] [2]. Most of the actual work deals with pyrazole rings bearing one or two bulky N-heterocycle substituents at the 3 and/or 5 position, as this type of ligand often produces multimetallic compounds [1 ± 6]. By constrast, related 1-substituted pyrazoles with heterocyclic substituents, which can act as bidentate ligands, have received less attention [7 ± 9]. They are, however, versatile ligands whose coordinative abilities could be influenced by the nature of additional substituents at the 3 and/or 5 position of the pyrazole ring.In this context, it is interesting to note that a (pyridinylpyrazole)-type ligand such as 5-methyl-1-(pyridin-2-yl)-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxamide (L c ) formed Cu II compounds of formula [CuX 2 (L c ) 2 ¥ H 2 O] (X Cl, Br, NO 3 , ClO 4 ) with a distorted octahedral geometry [10]. To achieve that, one of the two L c ligands acted in a N,N'-bidentate and the other in a N,N',O-tridentate fashion with the amide O-atom participating in the latter case and the sixth apical coordination site being occupied by a H 2 O molecule or a X counterion [10]. However, a related [Cu(La) 2 ] 2 complex with the 3-(2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-1-(pyridin-2-yl)-1H-pyrazole (L a ) ligand showed a tetrahedrically distorted planar geometry in which, in addition to the CuN 4 core, CuÀO interactions with the MeO groups of each ligand were observed [11].From these results, it appears that O-containing substituents at the 3 and 5 positions of the pyrazole ring of the pyridinylpyrazole ligands can play an important role in the stereochemistry of the copper derivatives.Following these precedents, we are now interested in using O-containing 3,5-disubstituted pyridinylpyrazole ligands in metal complexes to produce different geometries that might allow access to certain types of supramolecular arrangements.