Designing novel functional compounds is a key step in coordination and organic materials chemistry. Herein, 9phenanthrenylvinyl-4′-pyridine (9-PheVP), as a new ligand, has been synthesized and structurally characterized for the first time, along with its N-methylated analogue (9-MPheVP). Both compounds have been explored for their photophysical and redox properties and their applicability in bioimaging. The effect of quaternization on the crystal structure, absorption, emission, and redox properties has been investigated. Bathochromic and hypochromic shifts were observed in the absorption and emission properties upon quaternization. Both neutral and cationic compounds showed large Stokes shifts of 9250 and 8000 cm −1 , respectively. 9-MPheVP was observed to photoisomerize in the solid state to its cis-configuration (9-MPheVP-cis) upon exposure to light. Crystal structure determination of 9-MPheVP-cis revealed that with Z′ = 2, it represents a rare class of crystals for which Z′ > 1. The utility of 9-MPheVP as an efficient ligand has also been established by structurally characterizing a silver(I) complex, [Ag(9-PheVP) 2 ]BF 4 . Our results show that 9-PheVP can serve as a promising ligand in coordination chemistry and offers a platform for developing multifunctional organic materials.