A quantum-chemical study on the consequences of geometric modification and chelation on the electronic structure and optical properties of a tetra(carboxylic acid)phenyleneethynylene dye, of interest for chemical sensing applications, is presented. Rotation within the central biphenylene and complexation with divalent metal ions - in particular Cu2+ - lead to notable changes in the absorption and emission profiles. Calculations at both the density functional theory (DFT) and Hartree-Fock (HF) levels are used to evaluate geometric potential energy surfaces for rotation within the central biphenylene unit; HF coupled with configuration interaction singles (HF-CIS) is used to investigate the first excited state of the dye. Time-dependent DFT (TDDFT) calculations are employed to assess changes in optical absorption and fluorescence as a function of geometry and chelation.