μ-1,6-Dioxo-1,6-di-phenyl-hexane-3,4-diolato-bis-[(2,2'-bi-pyridine)-chlorido-copper(II)] dihydrate.

The reaction of CuCl 2 with 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5,6-hexa-netetrone and 2,2'-bi-pyridine (bipy) in ethanol gave crystals of the corresponding bimetallic complex, [Cu 2 (C 18 H 12 O 4 )Cl 2 (C 10 H 8 N 2 ) 2 ]·2H 2 O. The mol-ecule is centrosymmetric with each Cu II ion coordinated to two oxygen atoms from the tetronediate, two nitro-gen atoms from a bipy ligand and one coordinated chloride ion. A water mol-ecule of crystallization forms hydrogen bonds to the chloride ions, linking the mol-ecules into a chain parallel to the bc -face diagonal.