Aquabis(3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazole-kappaN2)(malonato-kappa2O,O')copper(II) dihydrate

In the neutral title complex, [Cu(C3H2O4)(C5H8N2)2(H2O)]*2H2O or [Cu(mal)(dmp)2(H2O)]*2H2O (mal is malonate and dmp is 3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazole), the Cu(II) ion, in a slightly distorted square-pyramidal geometry, is coordinated by two O atoms of the bidentate malonate, the O atom of the water ligand and two N atoms from the two 3,5-dimethylpyrazole ligands. The mean Cu-N bond length is 2.007 (6) A, longer than the Cu-O(mal) bonds [1.950 (5) A]. The apical position is occupied by a relatively strongly coordinated water molecule [Cu-O(water) 2.288 (5) A]. The crystal structure is characterized by the layer motif of a hydrogen-bonded network.