[Hydrogen N ‐(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetato](1,10‐phenanthroline)copper(II) trihydrate: a low‐temperature redetermination

The room‐temperature crystal structure of the title compound, [Cu(H 2 pmida)(phen)]·3H 2 O [where H 2 pmida 2− is hydrogen N ‐(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetate, C 5 H 10 NO 7 P 2− , and phen is 1,10‐phenanthroline, C 12 H 8 N 2 ], was recently determined by Pei Lu, Ke, Li, Qin, Zhou, Wu & Du [ Struct. Chem . (2004), 15 , 207–210]. We report here a redetermination, at 180 (2) K, with greatly improved precision. Hydrogen bonds lead to the formation of one‐dimensional tapes which run along the [100] direction of the unit cell. Adjacent tapes are interconnected via π–π offset stacking (between the 1,10‐phenanthroline ligands) and by hydrogen bonds involving the water molecules of crystallization.