The reaction of copper(II) sulfatepentahydrate with 2-nitro-benzoic acid and N,N,N',N'-tetra-methyl-ethylenedi-amine (TMEDA) in basic solution produces the complex bis-(2-nitro-benzoato-κO)(N,N,N',N'-tetra-methyl-ethylenedi-amine-κ2 N,N')copper(II), [Cu(C7H4NO4)2(C6H16N2)] or [Cu(2-nitro-benzoate)2(tmeda)]. Each carboxyl-ate group of the 2-nitro-benzoate ligand is coordinated by CuII atom in a monodentate fashion and two TMEDA ligand nitro-gen atoms are coordinate by the metal center, giving rise to a distorted square-planar coordination environment. In the crystal, metal complexes are linked by centrosymmetric C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming ribbons via a R 2 2(10) ring motif. These ribbons are linked by further C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, leading to two-dimensional hydrogen-bonded arrays parallel to the bc plane. Weak π-π stacking inter-actions provide additional stabilization of the crystal structure. Hirshfeld surface analysis, dnorm and two-dimensional fingerprint plots were examined to verify the contributions of the different inter-molecular contacts within the supra-molecular structure. The major inter-actions of the complex are O⋯H/H⋯O (44.9%), H⋯H (34%) and C⋯H (14.5%).