The use of acetic acid (HOAc) in a reaction between CuCl2·2H2O and secnidazole, an active pharmaceutical ingredient useful in the treatment against a variety of anaerobic Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, affords the title complex, [CuCl2(C7H11N3O3)2]. This compound was previously synthesized using ethanol as solvent, although its crystal structure was not reported [Betanzos-Lara et al. (2013). Inorg. Chim. Acta, 397, 94–100]. In the molecular complex, the Cu2+ cation is situated at an inversion centre and displays a square-planar coordination environment. There is a hydrogen-bonded framework based on intermolecular O—H...Cl interactions, characterized by H...Cl separations of 2.28 (4) Å and O—H...Cl angles of 175 (3)°. The resulting supramolecular network is based on R22(18) ring motifs, forming chains in the [010] direction.
