Crystal structure of bis-(azido-κN)bis-[2,5-bis-(pyridin-2-yl)-1,3,4-thia-diazole-κ(2) N (2),N (3)]nickel(II).

Reaction of 2,5-bis-(pyridin-2-yl)-1,3,4-thia-diazole and sodium azide with nickel(II) triflate yielded the mononuclear title complex, [Ni(N3)2(C12H8N4S)2]. The Ni(II) ion is located on a centre of symmetry and is octa-hedrally coordinated by four N atoms of the two bidentate heterocyclic ligands in the equatorial plane. The axial positions are occupied by the N atoms of two almost linear azide ions [N-N-N = 178.8 (2)°]. The thia-diazole and pyridine rings of the heterocyclic ligand are almost coplanar, with a maximum deviation from the mean plane of 0.0802 (9) Å. The cohesion of the crystal structure is ensured by π-π inter-actions between parallel pyridine rings of neighbouring mol-ecules [centroid-to-centroid distance = 3.6413 (14) Å], leading to a layered arrangement of the mol-ecules parallel to (001).