A tetra­nuclear nickel(II) complex, [Ni(4)(L)(4)](ClO(4))(4)·C(2)H(3)N·2H(2)O, with an asymmetric Ni(4)O(4) open-cubane-like core

A tetra­nuclear complex with an open-cubane-like core structure was synthesized from 2-meth­oxy-6-(pyridin-2-yl-hydrazonometh­yl)phenol (HL), namely, cyclo-tetra­kis­(μ-2-meth­oxy-6-{[2-(pyridin-2-yl)hydrazin-1-yl­idene]meth­yl}pheno­lato)tetra­nickel(II) tetra­kis­(perchlorate) aceto­nitrile monosolvate dihydrate, [Ni(4)(C(13)H(12)N(3)O(2))(4)](ClO(4))(4)·C(2)H(3)N·2H(2)O, and characterized using micro-analytical and spectroscopic techniques. The crystal-structure determination reveals the formation of a distorted Ni(4)O(4) cubane-like core architecture encapsulated by four hydrazone Schiff base (HL) mol­ecules. A open-cube tetra­nuclear architecture is created in which nickel(II) ions of the NiN(2)O(3) unit are connected by μ(2)-O anions of the phenolate moiety of HL. In this complex, each Ni centre has a slightly distorted square-pyramidal coordination environment. The supra­molecular architectures are stabilized via the presence of various inter­molecular hydrogen bonds and (ar­yl–aryl, ar­yl–chelate and chelate–chelate) stacking inter­actions.