Crystal structure of an Hg(II) coordination polymer with an unsymmetrical dipyridyl ligand: catena-poly[[[di­chlorido­mercury(II)]-μ-N-(pyridin-4-ylmeth­yl)pyridin-3-amine-κ(2) N:N′] chloro­form hemisolvate]

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, {[HgLCl(2)]·0.5CHCl(3)}(n) (L = N-(pyridin-4-ylmeth­yl)pyridin-3-amine, C(11)H(11)N(3)), contains one Hg(II) ion, one bridging L ligand, two chloride ligands and a chloro­form solvent mol­ecule with half-occupancy that is disordered about a crystallographic twofold rotation axis. Each Hg(II) ion is coordinated by two pyridine N atoms from two symmetry-related L ligands and two chloride anions in a highly distorted tetra­hedral geometry with bond angles falling in the range 99.05 (17)–142.96 (7)°. Each L ligand bridges two Hg(II) ions, forming polymeric zigzag chains propagating in [010]. In the crystal, the chains are linked by inter­molecular N/C—H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds together with weak C—H⋯π inter­actions, resulting in the formation of a three-dimensional supra­molecular network, which is further stabilized by C—Cl⋯π inter­actions between the solvent chloro­form mol­ecules and the pyridine rings of L [chloride-to-centroid distances = 3.442 (11) and 3.626 (13) Å]. In addition, weak Cl⋯Cl contacts [3.320 (5) Å] between the chloro­form solvent mol­ecules and the coordinating chloride anions are also observed.