Crystal structure of [bis(2-aminoethyl-κN)(2-{[4-(trifluoromethyl)benzylidene]amino}ethyl)amine-κN]dichloridocopper(II)

The Cu^II atom in the title compound, [CuCl2(C14H21F3N4)], adopts a coordination geometry that is between distorted square-based pyramidal and very Jahn-Teller-elongated octahedral. It is coordinated by three N atoms from the bis(2-aminoethyl)(2-{[4-(trifluoromethyl)benzylidene]amino}ethyl)amine and two chloride ligands. The two crystallographically unique copper complexes present in the asymmetric unit exhibit noticeable differences in the coordination bond lengths. Considering the Cu^II atoms as having square-pyramidal geometry, the basal Cu - Cl bond lengths are typical [2.2701(12) and 2.2777(12)Å], while the apical distances are considerably elongated [2.8505(12) and 2.9415(12)Å]. For each molecule, a Cu^II atom from inversion-related molecules are in nearby proximity to the remaining axial Cu^II sites, but the Cu⋯Cl distances are very long [3.4056(12) and 3.1645(12)Å], attributable to van der Waals contacts. Nonetheless, these contacts appear to have some structure-directing properties, leading to association into dimers. These dimers associate via stacking of the aromatic rings to form extended zigzag chains.