Molecular structures of two copper complexes with the pharmaceuticals norfloxacin and tinidazole, when powder X-ray diffraction assists multi-domain single-crystal X-ray diffraction.

The crystal structures of bis[1-ethyl-6-fluoro-4-oxo-7-(piperazin-1-ium-4-yl)-1,4-dihydroquinoline-3-carboxylato]copper(II) sulfate heptahydrate, [Cu(CHFNO)]SO·7HO or [Cu(nor)]SO·7HO (nor is norfloxacin), and bis{1-[2-(ethylsulfonyl)ethyl]-2-methyl-5-nitroimide}dinitratocopper(II), [Cu(NO)(CHNOS)] or [Cu(NO)(tnz)] (tnz is tinidazole), were solved by X-ray diffraction. Both complexes crystallize in the space group P2/c, with Z = 4 (for nor) and Z = 2 (for ntz) molecules per unit cell. In [Cu(nor)]SO·7HO, the Cu ion is at the centre of a square-planar environment, trans coordinated to two independent norfloxacin molecules in the zwitterionic form acting as bidentate ligands through one of the carboxyl (cbx) and the carbonyl (cb) O atoms. The solid is further stabilized by an extensive network of N-H...O(sulfate), N-H...O(cbx), N-H...OW, OW-H...O(sulfate) and OW-H...OW hydrogen bonds. The [Cu(NO)(tnz)] complex is centrosymmetric, with the Cu ion in a square planar environment, coordinated to a tinidazole molecule acting as a monodentate ligand through its imidazole N atom and to one nitrate O atom. The vibrational FT-IR absorption spectra and thermal behaviour of the complexes were also studied and are briefly discussed based on the crystal structures.