Crystal structure of the thermochromic bis­(di­ethyl­ammonium) tetra­chlorido­cuprate(II) complex

In the structure of the title complex salt, (Et(2)NH(2))(2)[CuCl(4)], the asymmetric unit consists of four unique di­ethyl­ammonium cations and three unique tetra­chlorido­cuprate anions. Two of the three anions are located with their copper atoms on independent crystallographic twofold axes, while the remaining tetra­chlorido­cuprate is located at a general position of the ortho­rhom­bic space group P2(1)2(1)2. Two of the three Cu atoms adopt a distorted square-planar/disphenoidal geometry and the third Cu atom has a regular square-planar coordination environment. The di­ethyl­ammonium cations form an extensive hydrogen-bonded network through N—H⋯Cl inter­actions with the tetra­chlorido­cuprate anions, resulting in a two-dimensional sheet-like hydrogen-bonded network parallel to the ab direction. The complex was observed to undergo a color shift from deep green at room temperature to pale yellow at temperatures above 328 K.