Diaqua(benzoato-κ2O,O′)(2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline-κ2N,N′)nickel(II) nitrate dihydrate

The title compound, [Ni(C7H5O2)(C14H12N2)(H2O)(2)]NO(3 center dot)2H(2)O, consists of one Ni II complex cation, two solvent water molecules and one non-coordinated nitrate anion. The Ni II ion has a slightly distorted octahedral coordination geometry, bonded to two N atoms from one 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline (dmphen) ligand, two O atoms from one benzoate anion and two water molecules. Both the cation and anion lie on a twofold rotation axis. O-H center dot center dot center dot O hydrogen bonds involving the water molecules as donors and pi-pi stacking interactions between the dmphen ligands of symmetry- related cations, with a distance between their ring planes of 3.2197 angstrom, seem to determine the crystal packing.