Photodetectors play an essential role in optical communications, environmental monitoring, and medical imaging, and their performance strongly depends on the properties of the optoelectronic materials. Therefore, the exploration of high-performance optoelectronic materials has long been a research focus in the field of materials science. Viologen-based organic materials, owing to their unique redox and chromic characteristics, have been extensively utilized in electrochromic devices, biosensors, and flow batteries. In this work, a viologen complex containing the transition metal element Co, Co(BPYBDC) (H
2O)
5∙(BDC)∙H
2O (denoted as 1-Co) is designed and synthesized. A series of
in situ high-pressure characterization techniques is used to systematically investigate its structural and optoelectronic behaviors. The results reveal that 1-Co crystallizes in the
Pc space group and remains structurally stable up to 11.6 GPa without any phase transition. UV-vis absorption spectroscopy shows a red-shift of the absorption edge upon compression, accompanied by a color change from colorless to yellow, indicating a pressure-induced narrowing of the optical bandgap. Consistent with the bandgap narrowing, impedance measurements show a significant decrease in total resistance under compression, which remains about two orders of magnitude lower than the initial value after decompression. Furthermore, the photocurrent response is markedly suppressed under compression and shows negligible recovery upon pressure release. This behavior can be attributed to the enhanced recombination of electrons with viologen groups under compression, leading to the formation of stable viologen radical states. These localized radicals cannot effectively participate in the separation and transport of photogenerated carriers, thereby contributing little to the photocurrent. These findings suggest that high pressure effectively modulates the optical and electrical behaviors of 1-Co by adjusting intermolecular interactions and the electronic band structure, thereby providing valuable insights into the pressure-dependent behavior of viologen-based materials.