Crystal structure of di-μ-hydroxido-κ(4) O:O-bis[bis(acetyl­acetonato-κ(2) O,O′)cobalt(III)]

The dinuclear title complex, [Co(2)(C(5)H(7)O(2))(4)(μ-OH)(2)] or [Co(acac)(2)(μ-OH)](2), where acac is acetyl­acetonate, is centrosymmetric with half of the mol­ecule per asymmetric unit. The mol­ecular structure is a dimer of octa­hedrally coordinated Co(III) atoms with four O atoms from two chelating acac ligands and two O atoms from bridging hydroxide ligands. The crystal packing features weak C—H⋯O inter­actions between neighboring mol­ecules, leading to the formation of chains normal to the ac plane. The hydroxide H atoms are not involved in hydrogen bonding because of the bulky acac ligands. This is the first crystal structure reported of a dimeric transition metal bis-acac complex with OH(−) as the bridging group.