Poly[diaqua-(µ(5)-1H-imidazole-4,5-di-carboxyl-ato)(µ(4)-1H-imidazole-4,5-di-carboxyl-ato)tris-ilver(I)ytterbium(III)].

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, [Ag(3)Yb(C(5)HN(2)O(4))(2)(H(2)O)(2)](n), contains three Ag(I) ions, one Yb(III) ion, two imidazole-4,5-dicarboxyl-ate ligands and two coordinating water mol-ecules. The Yb(III) atom is eight-coordinated, in a bicapped trigonal prismatic coordination geometry, by six O atoms from three imidazole-4,5-dicarboxyl-ate ligands and two coordinating water mol-ecules. The two-coordinated Ag(I) ions exhibit three types of coordination environments. One Ag(I) atom is bonded to two N atoms from two different imidazole-4,5-dicarboxyl-ate ligands. The other two Ag(I) atoms are each coordinated by one O atom and one N atom from two different imidazole-4,5-dicarboxyl-ate ligands. These metal coordination units are connected by bridging imidazole-4,5-dicarboxyl-ate ligands, generating a two-dimensional heterometallic layer. These layers are stacked along the a axis via O-H⋯O hydrogen-bonding inter-actions to generate a three-dimensional framework.