Crystal structure of bis-[2-(1H-benzimid-azol-2-yl)-4-bromo-phenolato-κ(2) N (3),O]cobalt(II).

The asymmetric unit of the title Co(II) complex, [Co(C13H8BrN2O)2], contains two independent mol-ecules (A and B). In both mol-ecules, the Co(II) cation is N,O-chelated by two 2-(1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)-4-bromo-phenolate anions in a distorted tetra-hedral geometry. In mol-ecule A, both chelating rings display an envelope conformation, with the flap Co atom lying 0.614 (6) and 0.483 (6) Å from the mean planes of the remaining atoms. In mol-ecule B, both chelating rings are approximately planar, the maximum deviations being 0.039 (4) and 0.076 (3) Å. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked by classical N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds and weak C-H⋯O and C-H⋯Br hydrogen bonds into a three-dimensional supra-molecular network. Extensive π-π stacking is observed between nearly parallel aromatic rings of adjacent mol-ecules with centroid-centroid distances in the range 3.407 (3)-3.850 (4) Å.