{6,6′-Diethoxy-2,2′-[4,5-dimethyl-o-phenylenebis(nitrilomethylidyne)]di­phenolato}nickel(II) dihydrate

In the title complex, [Ni(C(26)H(26)N(2)O(4))]·2H(2)O, the Ni(II) ion, lying on a twofold crystallographic rotation axis, has a square-planar geometry, being coordinated by the N(2)O(2) unit of the tetra­dentate Schiff base ligand. The asymmetric unit of the title compound comprises one-half of the complex mol­ecule and one of the water mol­ecules of crystallization. The water H atoms form bifurcated O—H⋯(O,O) hydrogen bonds with the O atoms of the phenolato and eth­oxy groups with R (1) (2)(5) and R (1) (2)(6) ring motifs. The dihedral angle between the central benzene ring and the two outer benzene rings are 4.07 (11) and 3.99 (12)°. The dihedral angle between the two O–Ni–N coordination planes is only 0.77 (11)°. In the crystal structure, the mol­ecules are linked together into extended chains along the c axis by inter­molecular O—H⋯O and C—H⋯O inter­actions. An inter­esting feature of the crystal structure is a short inter­molecular C ⋯ C [3.355 (3) Å] contact, which is shorter than the sum of the van der Waals radii. The crystal structure may be further stabilized by inter­molecular π–π inter­actions [centroid–centroid distances in the range 3.5758 (13)–3.6337 (13) Å].