Novel copper(II) complex of the formula [Cu(phen) 2 OCrO 3 ](phen) 0.5 Á4H 2 O (1) (phen = 1,10-phenantroline) was prepared in the crystalline form and characterized by X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic methods (IR-FIR, NIR-Vis-UV, EPR). In the solid state, the CuN 4 O chromophore adopts a slightly distorted square-pyramidal geometry around the Cu 2? ion with a magnitude of a distortion parameter s = 0.14. The chromate unit in (1) was found to be a monodentate.