The title Schiff base complex is a model compound for photoisomerization reactions which occur in photobiological processes such as vision. The Schiff base ligand and the complex have been prepared in a one-pot synthesis. In the crystal structure of the complex, copper has a distorted tetrahedral coordination. Photochemical investigations in solution reveal time-resolved spectroscopic changes that are interpreted in terms of a transformation from E to Z configuration of the CN bonds of the coordinated Schiff base ligand. Application of multivariate curve resolution and non-linear least squares curve fitting to the spectroscopic profiles provides a rate constant of 0.11 min?1 for the photoisomerization and a quantum yield of 0.246.