Coordination structure and intermolecular interactions in copper(II) acetate complexes with 1,10‐phenanthroline and 2,2′‐bipyridine

The crystal structures of two coordination compounds, (acetato‐κO)(2,2′‐bipyridine‐κ2N,N′)(1,10‐phenanthroline‐κ2N,N′)copper(II) acetate hexahydrate, [Cu(C2H3O2)(C10H8N2)(C12H8N2)](C2H3O2)·6H2O or [Cu(bipy)(phen)Ac]Ac·6H2O, and (acetato‐κO)bis(2,2′‐bipyridine‐κ2N,N′)copper(II) acetate–acetic acid–water (1/1/3), [Cu(C2H3O2)(C10H8N2)2](C2H3O2)·C2H4O2·3H2O or [Cu(bipy)2Ac]Ac·HAc·3H2O, are reported and compared with the previously published structure of [Cu(phen)2Ac]Ac·7H2O (phen is 1,10‐phenanthroline, bipy for 2,2′‐bipyridine, ac is acetate and Hac is acetic acid). The geometry around the metal centre is pentacoordinated, but highly distorted in all three cases. The coordination number and the geometric distortion are both discussed in detail, and all complexes belong to the space group P. The analysis of the geometric parameters and the Hirshfeld surface properties dnorm and curvedness provide information about the metal–ligand interactions in these complexes and allow comparison with similar systems. This study uses geometric parameters and Hirshfeld surfaces to understand and compare the coordination and the geometric distortion of a series of copper complexes exhibiting one acetate and two nitrogenous ligands (bipy or phen). It also focuses on understanding how the O atoms of the acetate ligand interact with the metal centre and the role this ligand can play in the geometry distortion.