THE STRUCTURE OF COPPER(II) DODECYL-SULFATE TETRAHYDRATE

Crystals of the title compound CU(OSO3C12H25)(2) . 4H(2)O were obtained from an aqueous solution and characterized by X-ray crystallography. The Cu-II ion is six-coordinated in a tetragonally elongated octahedral geometry with the four O atoms of water equatorial and the two O atoms of the dodecylsulphate groups axial. The Cu-O(dodecylsulphate) bonds are much longer at 2.456(4) Angstrom than the Cu-O (water) bonds at 1.860(4) and 1.870(4) Angstrom. The Cu-O-S angle is 173.9(3)degrees. The extended alkyl chains are tilted between the planes of copper atoms but there is no interdigitating between the alkyl chains from two adjacent layers.