Bis[2-(hy­droxy­imino­meth­yl)phenolato]nickel(II): a second monoclinic polymorph

The title compound, [Ni(C(7)H(6)NO(2))(2)], (I), is a second monoclinic polymorph of the compound, (II), reported by Srivastava et al. [Acta Cryst. (1967), 22, 922] and Mereiter [Private communication (2002) CCDC refcode NISALO01]. The bond lengths and angles are similar in both structures. The mol­ecule in both structures lies on a crystallographic inversion center and both have an inter­nal hydrogen bond. The title compound crystallizes in the space group P2(1)/c (Z = 2), whereas compound (II) is in the space group P2(1)/n (Z = 2) with a similar cell volume but different cell parameters. In both polymorphs, mol­ecules are arranged in the layers but in contrast to the previously published compound (II) where the dihedral angle between the layers is 86.3°, in the title polymorph the same dihedral angle is 29.4°. The structure of (I) is stabilized by strong intra­molecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonding between the O—H group and the phenolate O atom.