Bis( tert-butyl-3-oxobutanoato)dipyridinenickel(II) benzene solvate.

The title compound, [Ni(C8H13O3)2(C5H5N)2]·C6H6, a potential metal–organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) precursor, crystallizes with half a molecule of the complex and half a molecule of benzene in the asymmetric unit, both molecules being centrosymmetric. The Ni atom is at the origin (0, 0, 0), while the centroid of the benzene solvent molecule is at another centre of symmetry (0,  ,  ). The Ni atom has a distorted octahedral environment, with four O atoms from the bidentate tert-butyl-3-oxobutanoate ligand units in the axial positions and the two N atoms of the pyridine ligands at the apical positions. C—H...π contacts [3.021 (4) Å] between solvent benzene and the pyridine ligand, along with π–π stacking interactions [3.896 (1) Å] between adjacent pyridine ligands, result in a packing motif along the c axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]