Tetranuclear copper(II) complex of 2-hydroxy- N , N ′-bis[1-(2-hydroxyphenyl)ethylidene]propane-1,3-diamine

The title molecular structure, namely, (μ 3 -acetato)(μ 2 -acetato)bis(μ 3 -1,3-bis{[1-(2-oxidophenyl)ethylidene]amino}propan-2-olato)tetracopper(II) monohydrate, [Cu 4 (C 19 H 19 N 2 O 3 ) 2 (CH 3 CO 2 ) 2 ]·H 2 O, corresponds to a non-symmetric tetranuclear copper complex. The complex exhibits one ligand molecule that connects two copper Cu II metal centres via its ethanolato oxygen anion acting in a μ 2 -mode and one ligand molecule that connects three copper Cu II metal centres via its ethanolato oxygen anion acting in a μ 3 -mode. One bridging acetate group acting in an η 1 :η 1 -μ 2 -mode connects two copper(II) ions while another bridging acetate group connects three copper(II) ions in an η 1 :-η 2 -μ 3 -mode. A chair-like Cu 3 O 3 structure is generated in which the two CuO 4 N units are connected by one μ 2 -O ethanolate oxygen atom. These two units are connected respectively to the CuO 3 N unit via one μ 3 -O ethanolate oxygen atom and one μ 2 -O atom from an acetate group. The μ 3 -O atom also connects one of the CuO 4 N units and the CuO 3 N unit to another CuO 3 N unit, which is out of the chair-like structure. Each of the two pentacoordinated Cu II cations has a distorted NO 4 square-pyramidal environment. The geometry of each of the two CuNO 3 units is best described as a slightly square-planar environment. A series of intramolecular O—H...O hydrogen bonds is observed. In the crystal, the units are connected by intermolecular C—H...O and O—H...O hydrogen bonds, thus forming sheets parallel to the ac plane