Poly[[piperazine-1,4-dium [diaqua-tetra-kis-(μ-sulfanediyldiacetato)-dicerate(III)]] trihydrate]

The title compound, (C(4)H(12)N(2))[Ce(2)(C(4)H(4)O(4)S)(4)(H(2)O)(2)]·3H(2)O, features a polymeric anion with a centrosymmetric Ce(2)O(2) core and a Ce⋯Ce distance of 4.3625 (4) Å. The anions form ribbons {[Ce(2)(C(4)H(4)O(4)S)(4)(H(2)O)(2)](2-)}(n) extending along [100]. The doubly protonated piperazinium cations reside on centers of inversion and link the polymeric ribbons via N-H⋯O hydrogen bonding. Each Ce(III) cation is ten-coordinated by an O(2)S donor set from two tridentate sulfanediyldiacetate (tda) ligands, one water mol-ecule and three other tda O donors from adjacent {Ce(tda)(2)(H(2)O)} units in a distorted bicapped cubic environment. Additional O-H⋯O hydrogen bonding involving the coordinated and solvent water mol-ecules is also present. H atoms of the crystal water molecules could not be located and were not included in the refinement.