The title compound, [Cu(C3H6NO2)2] n , is a bis-complex of the anion of sarcosine (N-methyl-glycine). The asymmetric unit consists of a copper(II) ion, located on a center of inversion, and one mol-ecule of the uninegative sarcosinate anion. The copper(II) ion exhibits a typical Jahn-Teller distorted [4 + 2] coordination geometry. The four shorter equatorial bonds are to the nitro-gen and carboxyl-ate O atoms of two sarcosinate anions, and the longer axial bonds are to carboxyl-ate O atoms of neighboring complexes. The overall structure is made up from two chains formed by these longer axial Cu-O bonds, one extending parallel to [011] and the other parallel to [0-11]. Each one-dimensional array is connected by the equatorial bridging moieties to the chains on either side, creating an extended two-dimensional framework parallel to (100). There is a single inter-molecular hydrogen-bonding inter-action within the sheets between the amino NH group and an O atom of an adjacent mol-ecule.
Keywords: anhydrous bis(sarcosinato)copper(II); crystal structure; non-proteinogenic amino acid.