Di-mu-isocyanato-bis[isocyanato(1,10-phenanthroline)copper(II)]

The structure of blue [Cu-2(NCO)(4)(C12H8N2)(2)] consists of [Cu(NCO)(2)(phen)] subunits (phen is 1,10-phenanthroline) in a distorted planar arrangement, the subunits existing in centrosymmetrically related pairs in the crystal packing. The subunits have a distorted four-coordinate square-planar arrangement of N atoms about the central Cu atom; pairs of these [Cu(NCO)(2)(phen)] subunits form dimers by interaction of the fifth position on each Cu center with an N atom of an isocyanate ligand of the associated subunit. The coordination around each Cu atom is best described as distorted square-pyramidal.