mu-Benzene-1,2,4,5-tetracarboxylato-kappa O-4(1),O-2:O-4,O-5-bis[diaqua(phenanthroline-kappa N-2,N')nickel(II)] 0.67-hydrate

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, [Ni 2(C 10H 2O 8)(C 12H 8N 2) 2(H 2O) 4]·0.67H 2O, contains one complete binuclear complex and one half-molecule, the latter being completed by crystallographic inversion symmetry, and 0.67 of a solvent water molecule. Each Ni 2+ cation is coordinated by a 1,10-phenanthroline ligand, a bidentate benzene-1,2,4,5-tetracarboxylate (btec) tetraanion and two water molecules to generate a distorted cis-NiN 2O 4 octahedral coordination geometry. The btec species bridges the metal ions. In the crystal, the clusters and uncoordinated water molecules are linked by O - H⋯O hydrogen bonds and π-π interactions [shortest centroid-centroid separation = 3.596 (2) Å] to form a three-dimensional network.