The Preparation and Crystal Structure of Ammonium Bis[citrato(3-)]cuprate(II)

The copper(II) complex with citric acid (NH4)4 [Cu(C6H5O7)2] has been prepared, and its structure determined by X-ray diffraction, giving a residual R 0.035 for 1208 observed reflections. Crystals are monoclinic, space group P21/c with Z 2 in a cell of dimensions a 8.755(3), b 13.185(4), c 9.364(2)?, ß 113.73(2)°. The complex is a centrosymmetric six-coordinate monomer which is isomorphous with ammonium zinc(II) citrate. However, the Cu-O(hydroxyl) bonds [2.341(3)?] show Jahn-Teller distortion relative to the Cu-O(carboxyl) bonds [1.969(3) and 1.977(3)?].