Controlling the ligating behaviour of biologically important p-hydroxybenzoate towards copper(II) by the use of nitrogen bases: synthesis, characterization and single crystal X-ray structure determination of [trans-Cu(en)2(H20)2](L1)2.2H20 and [cis-Cu(L1)2(L2)2] where en=ethylenediamine, L1=p-hydroxybenzoate, L2= 3-picoline

Two new copper (II) complex salts have been prepared and characterized by elemental analysis, spectroscopic techniques and conductance measurements. In complex 1 copper (II) is coordinated to four nitrogen atoms and two water molecules while in complex 2 copper (II) is ccordinated to four oxygen atoms and two nitrogen atoms.