ChemInform Abstract: Cadmium Copper Tetrachloride Tetrahydrate.

The double salt [CuCl2(H2O)2{CdCl2}]·2H2O crystallizes in the triclinic rather than the monoclinic system as reported previously. The structure consists of sheets in the ac plane with slightly distorted octahedral CdCl6 [Cd—Cl 2.5813 (8)–2.6943 (8) A] connected by Cd—Cl—Cd bridges in the Cd equatorial plane along a, and by Cd—Cl—Cu bridges to layers of square-planar CuCl2(H2O)2 along c. There are long axial Cu—Cl interactions of 2.8623 (7) A and additional water of hydration is hydrogen bonded to coordinated water and chloride ligands. The additional water connects the ac sheets into a three-dimensional network. Both Cd and Cu occupy different P\overline 1 sites. The Cu⋯Cu and Cd⋯Cd distances are 3.8274 (6) A.