The title complex is assumed to have formed via the insertion of formaldehyde into the copper–carbon bond in an N-heterocyclic carbene complex of copper(I) chloride·The Cu—O bond lengths are shorter than those previously reported in structures with the same central Cu 2O 2 motif. The complex displays C—H⋯Cl interactions involving the H atoms of the heterocycle backbone and the chloride ligands of a neighbouring molecule.
The crystal structure of bis[μ-(1,3-dimesityl-1 H-imidazol-3-ium-2-yl)methanolato-κ 2 O: O]bis[dichloridocopper(II)], [Cu 2Cl 4(C 22H 26N 2O) 2], is reported. The complex is assumed to have formed via the insertion of formaldehyde into the copper–carbon bond in an N-heterocyclic carbene complex of copper(I) chloride. The structure of the binuclear molecule possesses a crystallographically centrosymmetric Cu 2O 2 central core with the O atoms bridging between the Cu II atoms and thus Z′ = 0.5. The copper centres are further ligated by two chloride ligands, resulting in the Cu II atoms residing in a distorted square-planar environment. The Cu—O bond lengths are shorter than those previously reported in structures with the same central Cu 2O 2 motif. The complex displays C—H⋯Cl interactions involving the H atoms of the heterocycle backbone and the chloride ligands of a neighbouring molecule.