Conformational flexibility of tricine as a chelating agent in catena-poly-[[(tricinato)copper(II)]-mu-chloro].

In the polymeric title compound, catena-poly[[(N-[2-hydroxy-1,1-bis(hydroxymethyl)ethyl]glycinato-O,N,O')copper(II)]-mu-chloro], [CuCl(C6H12NO5)]n, the Cu2+ ions are chelated by tridentate tricine anions and bridged by chloride ions. The metal ion is five-coordinated, with an approximately square-pyramidal geometry. The [CuCl(C6H12NO5)] units form infinite zigzag chains running parallel to the c axis, with Cu-Cl distances of 2.2209 (14) and 2.7792 (19) A. The tricine anion adopts a conformation intermediate between that found in the crystal structure of the neutral molecule and those reported for the Ni2+ and Zn2+ complexes.