Chloro(diethylenetriamine)copper(II) chloride: a disordered quasi-one-dimensional structure.

The title structure, [CuCl(C4H13N3)]Cl, consists of alternating [CuCl(dien)]+ (dien is diethylenetriamine) and Cl- ions arranged in quasi-one-dimensional stacks along the crystallographic a axis and forming tetragonally elongated octahedral coordination shells around each Cu atom [equatorial Cu-Cl = 2.2552 (8) A, and axial Cu-Cl = 2.831 (1) and 3.341 (1) A]. Crystallographic mirror planes bisect each stack vertically through the Cu, Cl and central N atoms, and horizontally through the [CuCl(dien)]+ cation. The horizontal mirrors lead to each atom in the puckered [CuCl(dien)]+ cations being disordered over two crystallographically equivalent sites. Comparison of the title structure with its Br and I analogues shows a growing influence of hydrogen bonding relative to coordination bonds on traversing the series I < Br < Cl.