(2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline-kappa2N,N')(pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylato-kappa3O2,N,O6)copper(II) trihydrate.

The copper(II) centre in the mononuclear title complex, [Cu(C(7)H(3)NO(4))(C(14)H(12)N(2))].3H(2)O, is surrounded by one bidentate 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline (dmphen) ligand and one tridentate pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylate ligand, and exhibits a distorted square-pyramidal geometry. The crystal packing involves both hydrogen-bonding and pi-pi interactions. The solvent water molecules link monomers to one another through hydrogen-bonding interactions, forming ladder-like chains in the bc plane. Face-to-face and slipped pi-pi interactions also occur between dmphen rings of neighboring molecules and are responsible for interchain packing.