The isolated complex was characterized by UV, IR spectroscopy and crystallographic studies. <...> Single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of the complex reveals its monomeric tetra-coordinated nature. <...> The crystal packing can be described as layers parallel to (101) plane alternating along the b axis, and it is stabilized by — stacking between the imidazole and phenyl rings. <...> The imidazole nucleus is an important pharmacophore found in a large number of compounds with a wide range of applications, which make imidazole derivatives the subject of extensive investigations [ 3—5]. <...> This entity is often employed as coordination ligand in the construction of diverse functional complexes not only because of its variable coordination modes, but also due to the inherent electronic effect [ 6, 7 ]. <...> In this paper we report the synthesis and structural characterization of a mononuclear cobalt(II) complex derived from CoCl2 and 1-benzyl-5-methyl-1H-imidazole. <...> Synthesis of 1-benzyl-5-methyl-1H-imidazole (L). 10 mmol of 2-methyl-1H-imidazole was added to a suspension of potassium carbonate (10 mmol) in acetonitrile (10 mL), and then stirred for 15 min at r.t. 10 mmol of 1-(chloromethyl)benzene was added to the reaction mixture and the mixture was heated to 70 C and kept for 72 h. <...> After completion of the reaction, the solvent was removed and © Bouchouit M., Bouraiou A., Bouacida S., Belfaitah A., Merazig H., 2016 . 873 – 876 2Dйpartement Sciences de la Matiиre, Universitй Oum El Bouaghi, 04000 Oum El Bouaghi, Algйrie 3Laboratoire des Produits Naturels dOrigine Vйgйtale et de Synthиse Organique, Universitй des frиres Mentouri, 874 the residue was dissolved in EtOAc (20 mL), washed with H2O (210 mL) and concentrated under reduced pressure. <...> Preparation of [CoCl2L2] complex I. A solution of 238 mg of CoCl26H2O (1 mmol) and 344 mg (2 mmol) of 1-benzyl-5-methyl-1H-imidazole (L) in 10 mL of MeOH was stirred overnight at room temperature. <...> The blue precipitate of 1 formed was filtered off and dried in vacuo. <...> UV spectra were recorded on UV-Vis Spectrophotometer Optizen 1220; IR spectra were recorded on a JASCO FT/IR-6300 FT Infrared spectrometer and on a Shimadzu <...>