Sparteine copper(II) dinitrite

The title complex, [Cu(NO2)2(C15H26N2)], has been prepared and its crystal structure determined. The chiral nitrogen-chelating alkaloid (−)-sparteine acts as a bidentate ligand, reacting with one CuII ion in ethanol to form the title complex, with two nitrite groups occupying the remaining coordination sites, to produce a distorted five-coordinate square-pyramidal structure. One nitrite is bound through one O atom and the other nitrite acts as a η2-chelating group.