Crystal structure and Hirshfeld surface analysis of bis-(2,6-di-amino-pyridinium) tetra-chlorido-cobaltate(II).

In the title mol-ecular salt, (C5H8N3)2[CoCl4], the cations are protonated at their pyridine N atoms and the anion is an almost regular tetra-hedron. The crystal structure consists of alternating inorganic layers, built from tetra-chlorido-cobaltate anions, and organic layers formed by protonated cations of 2,6-di-amino-pyridinium. The crystal packing is governed by C/N-H⋯Cl hydrogen-bonding inter-actions between the organic and the inorganic ions and Cl⋯Cl inter-actions. Moreover, the cations show a π-π stacking inter-action [inter-centroid distance = 3.763 (2) Å]. The prevalence of these inter-actions is illustrated by an analysis of the three-dimensional Hirshfeld surface and by two-dimensional fingerprint plots.