catena-Poly[[[bis­(thio­cyanato-κN)zinc(II)]-μ-1,2-bis­{[2-(2-pyrid­yl)-1H-imidazol-1-yl]meth­yl}benzene] 0.28-hydrate]

The title one-dimensional coordination polymer, {[Zn(NCS)(2)(C(24)H(20)N(6))(2)]·0.28H(2)O}(n), was obtained by the reaction of Zn(OAc)(2)·2H(2)O, KSCN and 1,2-bis­{[2-(2-pyrid­yl)-1H-imid­azol-1-yl]meth­yl}benzene (hereafter L). The Zn(II) ion shows a distorted octa­hedral coordination geometry and is coordin­ated by two N atoms from two SCN(−) anions and four N atoms from two organic ligands. The L ligands act as bridging bis-chelating ligands with cis coordination modes at the Zn(II) ion. One-dimensional coordination polymers are arranged into layers by π–π stacking inter­actions between the imidazole rings of adjacent chains, with an inter­planar distance of 3.46 (1) Å and centroid–centroid distances of 3.8775 (16) Å. One of the thio­cyanate ligands is disordered over two positions with an occupancy factor of 0.564 (3) for the major component. The partially occupied water mol­ecule forms an O—H⋯S hydrogen bond with the disordered thio­cyanate group.