There are four hydrogen bonds involved in the cell packing of 2 (Fig. 2). The O atom in py(CH2OH)2 forms a H-bond with a water molecule (O1...O3; 2.529(9) Å). The water molecule also forms a H-bond with the CF3COO− counteranion (O3...O4; 2.686(9) Å) and the counteranion is connected to another complex cation via two positions (O2...O5 and N2...O4; 2.653(6) and 3.001(7) Å, respectively). These H-bonds make the complex, CF3COO− counteranion and water molecule arranged in a 1D zig-zag chain along the a-axis.