The crystal and molecular structure of (μ-terephthlato) bis [(N-salicylidene-N′-(2-hydroxyethyl) ethylenediamine) copper(II)]

The title compound [[Cu(shen)](2)(tp)], {[Cu(C15H17O4N2)](2)}, where tp = dianion of terephthalic acid and shen = (N-salicylidene-N'-(2-hydroxyethyl ethylene-diamine)) has been prepared and its crystal structure determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction at room temperature. The complex crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pbca with four formula units in a unit cell of dimensions a=12.298(2), b=14.214(2) and c=16.436(2)Angstrom. The structure consists of binuclear units with Cu(II) ion bridged by the tp ligand in a bis-unidentate fashion. The five coordinate Cu(II) complex adopts a distorted square-based pyramid. A crystallographic inversion center has been located at the center of the benzene ring of the tp bridging ligand. The Cu...Cu distance inside a same binuclear entity is 11.069 Angstrom. Intermolecular aromatic ring stacking interactions were observed with the shortest atom to atom contact being 3.423 Angstrom.