catena-Poly[[(2-methyl-1,3-benzothia-zole-N)mercury(II)]-di-mu-chloro]

The reaction of 2-methyl-1,3-benzothiazole (mebta) with mercury(II) chlorid e in methanol in a 1:1 molar ratio resulted in the formation of single crys tals of the title compound, [HgCl2(C8H7NS)](n). The molecules exist as cont inuous chlorine-bridged chains in which Hg atoms lie in distorted trigonal bipyramidal environments. The equatorial positions are occupied by an N ato m from the ligand [2.236 (8) Angstrom] and two Cl atoms [2.428 (3) and 2.45 9 (3) Angstrom]. The two axial Hg- Cl contacts to two neighbouring molecule s [2.874 (3) and 2.964 (3) Angstrom] are significantly shorter than the sum of the respective van der Waals radii, and form close to linear Cl- Hg-Cl sequences [177.80 (7)degrees].