Poly[[dodeca­aqua­(μ(4)-benzene-1,4-dicarboxyl­ato)(μ(2)-4,4′-bipyridine-κ(2) N:N′)dicerium(III)] bis­(benzene-1,4-dicarboxyl­ate)]

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, {[Ce(2)(C(8)H(4)O(4))(C(10)H(8)N(2))(H(2)O)(12)](C(8)H(4)O(4))(2)}(n), consists of half a Ce(III) cation, a quarter of a coordinated benzene-1,4-dicarboxyl­ate (bdc(2−)) dianion, a quarter of a 4,4′-bipyridine (bpy) mol­ecule, three water mol­ecules and a half of an uncoordinated benzene-1,4-dicarboxyl­ate dianion. The Ce(III) ion is located on a twofold rotation axis and exhibits a distorted trigonal prism square-face tricapped coordination geometry. The coordinated and uncoordinated bdc(2−) ions and the bpy mol­ecule lie about special positions of site symmetries 2/m, m and 2/m, respectively. The Ce(III) ions are bridged by the bdc(2−) and bpy ligands, giving a sheet structure parallel to the ac plane. The uncoordinated bdc(2−) dianion exists between the sheets and links the sheets by inter­molecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds between the uncoordinated bdc(2−) and coordinated water mol­ecules. A π–π stacking inter­action between the uncoordinated bdc(2−) dianion and the bpy ligand [centroid–centroid distance = 3.750 (4) Å] is also observed.