The synthesis, spectral characterization and crystal structures of two nitrobenzoatocopper(II) complexes, namely [Cu(2-O 2 Nbz) 2 (pca) 2 (H 2 O) 2 ] (1) and [Cu(3, N) 2 bz) 2 (pca) 2 (H 2 O) 2 ] (2) (where 2-O 2 Nbz = 2-nitrobenzoate, 3,5-(O 2 N) 2 bz = 3,5-dinitrobenzoate, pca = pyrazinecarboxamide), are reported. Complexes 1 and 2 consist of centrosymmetric molecules with the Cu(II) atom monodentately coordinated by a pair of anionic 2-nitrobenzoato (1) or 3,5-dinitrobenzoato (2) ligands and a pair of pyrazinecarboxamide ligands, forming a nearly tetragonal basal plane, and by a pair of water ligands that complete the tetragonal-bipyramidal coordination polyhedron. The molecules of both complexes are linked by N-H_O and O-H_O hydrogen bonds and lie in planes, which have different orientations depending on the space group. Similar experiments with 3-nitrobenzoic acid resulted in the isolation of the hydrolysis product [Cu(pyzCOO) 2 ] n (3) (pyz-COO = pyrazinecarboxylate). The known crystal structure of complex 3 has been re-determined at low temperature with significantly higher precision. The crystal packing and C-H_O/C-H_N hydrogen bonds are discussed.