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The CuII ion in the title complex, [Cu(C5H10NO3)2] or [Cu(He-ala)2] [He-ala = N-(2-hydroxy­ethyl)-β-alaninate], resides at the inversion centre of a square bipyramid comprised of two facially arranged tridentate He-ala ligands. Each He-ala ligand binds to a CuII ion by forming one six-membered β-alaninate chelate ring in a twist conformation and one five-membered ethanol­amine ring in an envelope conformation, with Cu—N = 2.017 (2) Å, Cu—OCOO = 1.968 (1) Å and Cu—OOH = 2.473 (2) Å. The [Cu(He-ala)2] mol­ecules are involved in a network of O—H...O and N—H...O hydrogen bonds, forming layers parallel to the (10\overline{1}) plane. The layers are connected into a three-dimensional structure by van der Waals inter­actions, so that the mol­ecular centres form pseudo-face-centered close packing.

Supporting information

cif

Crystallographic Information File (CIF) https://doi.org/10.1107/S0108270105033780/bg1015sup1.cif
Contains datablocks I, global

hkl

Structure factor file (CIF format) https://doi.org/10.1107/S0108270105033780/bg1015Isup2.hkl
Contains datablock I

CCDC reference: 294309

Comment top

The title compound, [Cu(He-ala)2], was synthesized as part of our systematic study of the coordination ability of dipodal ligands derived from β-alanine (Skorik et al., 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002). The acid–base and complexation equilibria of N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-β-alanine with CuII, NiII and CoII have been studied by means of pH–potentiometric titration in aqueous media. Evidence was found for the presence of the [M(He-ala)] and [M(He-ala)2] complexes (Uhlig & Linke, 1964). In the case of CuII ions, the monoprotonated [CuH(He-ala)] complex can also be formed in strong acidic conditions. To the best of our knowledge, no complexes of He-ala have previously been structurally characterized. In order to determine the CuII coordination geometry and the chelating pattern, the present X-ray crystal structure determination has been carried out on the title complex, (I), and the results are presented here.

The molecular structure of the [Cu(He-ala)2] complex, along with the atomic numbering scheme, is shown in Fig. 1, while Table 1 lists selected bond lengths and angles. The structure of (I) consists of isolated [Cu(He-ala)2] units, with the CuII ion located at the inversion centre in a square-bipyramidal geometry (4 + 2). The basal plane of the bipyramid is occupied by two N atoms of secondary amino groups and by two carboxylate O atoms, and the apices are occupied by two hydroxyl O atoms of two symmetrically arranged He-ala ligands. The axial Cu—O bonds are typically longer than the other in-plane bonds. The trans O—Cu—O or N—Cu—N angles are 180°, as required by symmetry. The cis angles involving the basal atom O2 differ only slightly from 90°, while the largest angular distortions of the octahedron occur for the N1—Cu1—O1 angles (Table 1).

Each monodeprotonated He-ala ligand binds to a CuII centre as a tridentate NO2 ligand in a fac fashion by the formation of two chelate rings (one β-alaninate and one ethanolamine). There are three possible fac conformations for He-ala in a square-bipyramidal coordination, as shown in the scheme.

The isolated complex turned out to be a fac1 isomer (Fig. 1). The selective formation of this isomer can be rationalized by reasoning that the most thermodynamically preferable isomer consists of the stronger field ligands in the equatorial positions and the weaker ligands in the apices of an axially elongated octahedron. Taking into account the spectrochemical series RNH2 > RCOO > ROH (Bersuker, 1996), the fac1 conformation for He-ala appears to be the most thermodynamically stable. For the same reason, a fac1 isomer is favourable for the glycine derivative of ethanolamine (Ananeva et al., 1975; Ammar et al., 2001).

The six-membered β-alaninate chelate ring adopts a twist conformation, with atoms C5 and N1 not involved in the distortion of the initial planar hexagon. The puckering parameters (Cremer & Pople, 1975) generated by PLATON (Spek, 2003) are Q = 0.7335 (19) Å, θ = 94.75 (15)°, ϕ = 29.83 (15)°. The sum of the internal angles [675.0 (4)°] has a positive deviation from the ideal value, 648° = 120 + (109.5 × 4) + 90, and this exerts a stress, resulting in the flattening. The five-membered ethanolamine chelate ring adopts an envelope conformation, with atom C2 tilted by 0.646 (3) Å away from the Cu1/O1/C1/N1 plane; the puckering parameters are Q = 0.475 (2) Å and θ = 305.4 (2)°. The dihedral angle formed by the r.m.s. planes of the two chelate rings is 70.69 (9)°.

In the crystal structure of (I), the [Cu(He-ala)2] molecules are involved in an extended two-dimensional system of hydrogen bonds, forming layers parallel to the (101) plane (Fig. 2a). Six intralayer molecules are hydrogen-bonded to the reference molecule; two of them form two N—H···O contacts each, while the other four form only O—H···O contacts (Table 2). The whole molecular packing may be represented as a superposition of these layers. Its topology was characterized with coordination sequences (O'Keeffe, 1995) calculated using the TOPOS4.0 professional program suite for crystallochemical analysis (Blatov et al., 2000). The molecular centres of gravity form the coordination sequence 12, 42, 92. In other words, the first, second and third coordination sphere of any molecule contains 12, 42 and 92 molecules, respectively. This sequence corresponds topologically to three-layered face-centred cubic (fcc) packing (O'Keeffe, 1995) which is slightly distorted geometrically. The simplified three-layered packing motif in the structure is shown in Fig. 2(b), where the centres of the molecules are represented as balls. Three molecules of the upper and lower layers and six molecules of the middle layer are shown. Thus, the hydrogen-bonded layers are joined by van der Waals interactions to the distorted fcc packing that is typical for molecular compounds (Kitaigorodskii, 1973; Peresypkina & Blatov, 2000; Braun & Huttner, 2005).

Experimental top

N-(2-Hydroxyethyl)-β-alanine was prepared using a modification of the literature procedure of Salov et al. (1985). A mixture containing acrylic acid (4.1 ml, 0.060 mol) and ethanolamine (10.8 ml, 0.18 mol) in water (56 ml) was heated under reflux for 8 h. The solvent and the excess ethanolamine were then evaporated on a water bath under vacuum. The resulting solid product was recrystallized from methanol [yield 2.28 g, 36%, m.p. 420 K (literature value 419–420 K; Salov et al., 1985)]. Analysis, found: C 44.92, H 8.62, N 10.43%; calculated for C5H11NO3: C 45.10, H 8.33, N 10.52%. Spectroscopic analysis: 1H NMR (400 MHz, D2O, δ, p.p.m.): 3.84 (t, J = 5.20 Hz, 2H), 3.26 (t, J = 6.69 Hz, 2H), 3.20 (t, J = 5.20 Hz, 2H), 2.58 (t, J = 6.69 Hz, 2H). The title complex was prepared as follows. A mixture containing N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-β-alanine (4.7 g, 0.035 mol), (CuOH)2CO3 (9.0 g, 0.041 mol) and water (20 ml) was stirred at room temperature for 48 h. After filtration, the resulting solution was maintained at room temperature until evaporation resulted in the formation of blue–violet crystals of (I) suitable for X-ray diffraction analysis. Analysis, found: C 36.53, H 6.38, N 8.55, Cu 19.14%; calculated for C10H20N2O6Cu: C 36.64, H 6.15, N 8.55, Cu 19.38%.

Refinement top

Atom H2 of the OH group was found in a difference electron-density map and refined with the O—H distance constrained to 0.82 (2) Å and with Uiso(H) = 1.2Ueq(O). All other H atoms were located geometrically and refined using a riding model, with C—H = 0.97 and N—H = 0.91 Å, and with Uiso(H) = 1.2Ueq(C,N). [Please check added text] Intermolecular interactions and features of crystal packing were investigated according to Peresypkina & Blatov (2000) using the TOPOS4.0 professional program suite for crystallochemical analysis (Blatov et al., 2000).

Computing details top

Data collection: APEX2 (Bruker, 2005); cell refinement: APEX2; data reduction: APEX2; program(s) used to solve structure: SHELXTL (Bruker, 2005); program(s) used to refine structure: SHELXTL; molecular graphics: SHELXTL; software used to prepare material for publication: local programs.

Figures top
[Figure 1] Fig. 1. The molecular structure of (I). Displacement ellipsoids are drawn at the 50% probability level and H atoms are shown as small spheres of arbitrary radii. The axial bonds to Cu are shown by dashed lines.
[Figure 2] Fig. 2. The crystal structure of (I). (a) The hexagonal layer parallel to the (101) plane. H atoms have been omitted for clarity. (b) A fragment of the spatial arrangement of the centres of gravity of molecules of (I), illustrating the three-layered fcc packing motif. Upper, medium and lower levels are shown as dark-, medium- and light-grey balls, respectively. Solid and dashed lines show the intra- (hydrogen bonding) and interlayer (van der Waals) distances between the molecular centres.
Bis[N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-β-alaninato]copper(II) top
Crystal data top
[Cu(C5H10NO3)2]F(000) = 342
Mr = 327.82Dx = 1.636 Mg m3
Monoclinic, P21/nMo Kα radiation, λ = 0.71073 Å
Hall symbol: -P 2ynCell parameters from 1481 reflections
a = 9.5257 (6) Åθ = 2.6–28.1°
b = 5.6597 (3) ŵ = 1.67 mm1
c = 12.4288 (7) ÅT = 295 K
β = 96.779 (3)°Block, blue-violet
V = 665.38 (7) Å30.35 × 0.33 × 0.23 mm
Z = 2
Data collection top
Bruker X8 APEX CCD area-detector
diffractometer
1553 independent reflections
Radiation source: fine-focus sealed tube1204 reflections with I > 2σ(I)
Graphite monochromatorRint = 0.019
Detector resolution: 25 pixels mm-1θmax = 28.2°, θmin = 2.6°
ω and ϕ scansh = 127
Absorption correction: multi-scan
(SADABS; Sheldrick, 1996)
k = 76
Tmin = 0.477, Tmax = 0.682l = 1616
3238 measured reflections
Refinement top
Refinement on F2Primary atom site location: structure-invariant direct methods
Least-squares matrix: fullSecondary atom site location: difference Fourier map
R[F2 > 2σ(F2)] = 0.027Hydrogen site location: inferred from neighbouring sites
wR(F2) = 0.069H atoms treated by a mixture of independent and constrained refinement
S = 1.04 w = 1/[σ2(Fo2) + (0.0293P)2 + 0.3245P]
where P = (Fo2 + 2Fc2)/3
1553 reflections(Δ/σ)max < 0.001
91 parametersΔρmax = 0.37 e Å3
1 restraintΔρmin = 0.26 e Å3
Crystal data top
[Cu(C5H10NO3)2]V = 665.38 (7) Å3
Mr = 327.82Z = 2
Monoclinic, P21/nMo Kα radiation
a = 9.5257 (6) ŵ = 1.67 mm1
b = 5.6597 (3) ÅT = 295 K
c = 12.4288 (7) Å0.35 × 0.33 × 0.23 mm
β = 96.779 (3)°
Data collection top
Bruker X8 APEX CCD area-detector
diffractometer
1553 independent reflections
Absorption correction: multi-scan
(SADABS; Sheldrick, 1996)
1204 reflections with I > 2σ(I)
Tmin = 0.477, Tmax = 0.682Rint = 0.019
3238 measured reflections
Refinement top
R[F2 > 2σ(F2)] = 0.0271 restraint
wR(F2) = 0.069H atoms treated by a mixture of independent and constrained refinement
S = 1.04Δρmax = 0.37 e Å3
1553 reflectionsΔρmin = 0.26 e Å3
91 parameters
Special details top

Geometry. All e.s.d.'s (except the e.s.d. in the dihedral angle between two l.s. planes) are estimated using the full covariance matrix. The cell e.s.d.'s are taken into account individually in the estimation of e.s.d.'s in distances, angles and torsion angles; correlations between e.s.d.'s in cell parameters are only used when they are defined by crystal symmetry. An approximate (isotropic) treatment of cell e.s.d.'s is used for estimating e.s.d.'s involving l.s. planes.

Refinement. Refinement of F2 against ALL reflections. The weighted R-factor wR and goodness of fit S are based on F2, conventional R-factors R are based on F, with F set to zero for negative F2. The threshold expression of F2 > σ(F2) is used only for calculating R-factors(gt) etc. and is not relevant to the choice of reflections for refinement. R-factors based on F2 are statistically about twice as large as those based on F, and R- factors based on ALL data will be even larger.

Fractional atomic coordinates and isotropic or equivalent isotropic displacement parameters (Å2) top
xyzUiso*/Ueq
Cu10.00000.00000.50000.02268 (11)
C10.3231 (2)0.1144 (5)0.4834 (2)0.0435 (6)
H1A0.35320.04100.41940.052*
H1B0.40630.17650.52680.052*
C20.2224 (2)0.3136 (4)0.44997 (19)0.0348 (5)
H2A0.20830.40730.51310.042*
H2B0.26360.41520.39920.042*
C30.0926 (2)0.1347 (4)0.28765 (17)0.0330 (5)
H3A0.17400.03140.28870.040*
H3B0.10640.26670.24020.040*
C40.0391 (2)0.0004 (4)0.24275 (17)0.0334 (5)
H4A0.12180.09220.25480.040*
H4B0.03940.01850.16520.040*
C50.0488 (2)0.2399 (4)0.29391 (17)0.0297 (5)
N10.08360 (17)0.2246 (3)0.39879 (13)0.0247 (4)
H10.02500.35200.39140.030*
O10.2578 (2)0.0569 (4)0.54400 (16)0.0502 (5)
H20.305 (3)0.074 (6)0.5983 (18)0.060*
O20.00510 (16)0.2610 (3)0.39498 (11)0.0300 (3)
O30.0940 (2)0.4119 (3)0.23863 (15)0.0540 (5)
Atomic displacement parameters (Å2) top
U11U22U33U12U13U23
Cu10.03225 (19)0.01987 (18)0.01574 (18)0.00165 (16)0.00207 (11)0.00013 (16)
C10.0319 (12)0.0633 (17)0.0340 (14)0.0060 (12)0.0016 (10)0.0032 (14)
C20.0352 (12)0.0367 (12)0.0323 (13)0.0073 (10)0.0037 (9)0.0001 (11)
C30.0415 (12)0.0385 (13)0.0202 (11)0.0022 (10)0.0082 (9)0.0036 (10)
C40.0442 (12)0.0378 (12)0.0167 (10)0.0062 (11)0.0030 (8)0.0027 (11)
C50.0340 (11)0.0294 (11)0.0250 (11)0.0088 (9)0.0003 (8)0.0026 (10)
N10.0288 (9)0.0234 (8)0.0218 (9)0.0050 (7)0.0029 (6)0.0030 (7)
O10.0499 (11)0.0511 (11)0.0440 (12)0.0056 (8)0.0179 (8)0.0083 (9)
O20.0481 (9)0.0231 (7)0.0178 (8)0.0034 (6)0.0001 (6)0.0004 (6)
O30.0840 (14)0.0357 (9)0.0359 (10)0.0033 (9)0.0202 (9)0.0092 (9)
Geometric parameters (Å, º) top
Cu1—N1i2.0172 (17)C2—N11.486 (3)
Cu1—N12.0172 (17)C3—H3A0.9700
Cu1—O1i2.4733 (18)C3—H3B0.9700
Cu1—O12.4733 (18)C3—C41.516 (3)
Cu1—O21.9682 (14)C3—N11.484 (2)
Cu1—O2i1.9682 (14)C4—H4A0.9700
C1—H1A0.9700C4—H4B0.9700
C1—H1B0.9700C4—C51.509 (3)
C1—C21.507 (3)C5—O21.282 (2)
C1—O11.416 (3)C5—O31.239 (3)
C2—H2A0.9700N1—H10.9100
C2—H2B0.9700O1—H20.772 (17)
N1i—Cu1—N1180.0N1—C2—H2B109.3
N1i—Cu1—O1i76.42 (7)H3A—C3—H3B107.9
N1—Cu1—O1i103.58 (7)C4—C3—H3A109.2
N1i—Cu1—O1103.58 (7)C4—C3—H3B109.2
N1—Cu1—O176.42 (7)N1—C3—H3A109.2
O1i—Cu1—O1180.00 (9)N1—C3—H3B109.2
O2—Cu1—N1i87.70 (7)N1—C3—C4112.25 (17)
O2i—Cu1—N1i92.30 (7)C3—C4—H4A109.0
O2—Cu1—N192.30 (7)C3—C4—H4B109.0
O2i—Cu1—N187.70 (7)H4A—C4—H4B107.8
O2—Cu1—O1i90.28 (6)C5—C4—C3112.71 (18)
O2i—Cu1—O1i89.72 (6)C5—C4—H4A109.0
O2—Cu1—O189.72 (6)C5—C4—H4B109.0
O2i—Cu1—O190.28 (6)O2—C5—C4117.91 (19)
O2—Cu1—O2i180.0O3—C5—C4120.61 (19)
H1A—C1—H1B108.1O3—C5—O2121.4 (2)
C2—C1—H1A109.5Cu1—N1—H1106.2
C2—C1—H1B109.5C2—N1—Cu1110.09 (13)
O1—C1—H1A109.5C2—N1—H1106.2
O1—C1—H1B109.5C3—N1—Cu1115.76 (13)
O1—C1—C2110.73 (19)C3—N1—C2111.62 (17)
C1—C2—H2A109.3C3—N1—H1106.2
C1—C2—H2B109.3Cu1—O1—H2132 (2)
H2A—C2—H2B107.9C1—O1—Cu1106.29 (13)
N1—C2—C1111.72 (19)C1—O1—H2108 (2)
N1—C2—H2A109.3C5—O2—Cu1124.04 (14)
Symmetry code: (i) x, y, z+1.
Hydrogen-bond geometry (Å, º) top
D—H···AD—HH···AD···AD—H···A
N1—H1···O2ii0.912.213.030 (2)150
O1—H2···O3iii0.77 (2)1.89 (2)2.659 (2)173 (3)
Symmetry codes: (ii) x, y+1, z; (iii) x+1/2, y1/2, z+1/2.

Experimental details

Crystal data
Chemical formula[Cu(C5H10NO3)2]
Mr327.82
Crystal system, space groupMonoclinic, P21/n
Temperature (K)295
a, b, c (Å)9.5257 (6), 5.6597 (3), 12.4288 (7)
β (°) 96.779 (3)
V3)665.38 (7)
Z2
Radiation typeMo Kα
µ (mm1)1.67
Crystal size (mm)0.35 × 0.33 × 0.23
Data collection
DiffractometerBruker X8 APEX CCD area-detector
diffractometer
Absorption correctionMulti-scan
(SADABS; Sheldrick, 1996)
Tmin, Tmax0.477, 0.682
No. of measured, independent and
observed [I > 2σ(I)] reflections
3238, 1553, 1204
Rint0.019
(sin θ/λ)max1)0.664
Refinement
R[F2 > 2σ(F2)], wR(F2), S 0.027, 0.069, 1.04
No. of reflections1553
No. of parameters91
No. of restraints1
H-atom treatmentH atoms treated by a mixture of independent and constrained refinement
Δρmax, Δρmin (e Å3)0.37, 0.26

Computer programs: APEX2 (Bruker, 2005), APEX2, SHELXTL (Bruker, 2005), SHELXTL, local programs.

Selected geometric parameters (Å, º) top
Cu1—N12.0172 (17)Cu1—O21.9682 (14)
Cu1—O12.4733 (18)
N1—Cu1—O176.42 (7)O2—Cu1—O189.72 (6)
O2—Cu1—N192.30 (7)
Hydrogen-bond geometry (Å, º) top
D—H···AD—HH···AD···AD—H···A
N1—H1···O2i0.912.213.030 (2)150
O1—H2···O3ii0.772 (17)1.891 (18)2.659 (2)173 (3)
Symmetry codes: (i) x, y+1, z; (ii) x+1/2, y1/2, z+1/2.
 

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