Poly[[chlorido(1,10-phenanthroline-κ2N,N')copper(II)]-μ3-1,1,3,3-tetracyano-2-ethoxypropenido-κ3N:N':N'']: coordination polymer sheets linked into bilayers by hydrogen bonds.

In the title compound, [Cu(C9H5N4O)Cl(C12H8N2)]n or [Cu(tcnoet)Cl(phen)]n, where phen is 1,10-phenanthroline and tcnoet is 1,1,3,3-tetracyano-2-ethoxypropenide, the axially elongated (4 + 2) coordination polyhedron around the Cu(II) centre contains N atoms from three different tcnoet ligands. The resulting coordination polymer takes the form of sheets which are linked in pairs by a single C-H...N hydrogen bond to form bilayers. The bond lengths provide evidence for significant bond fixation in the phen ligand and extensive electronic delocalization in the tcnoet ligand, where the two -C(CN)2 units are rotated, in conrotatory fashion, out of the plane of the central C3O fragment.