Crystal structure and Hirshfeld surface analysis of bis(6,7,8,9-tetrahydro-11 H -pyrido[2,1- b ]quinazolin-5-ium) tetrachloridozincate

The title compound, (C 12 H 15 N 2 ) 2 [ZnCl 4 ], is a salt with two symmetrically independent, essentially planar heterocyclic cations and a slightly distorted tetrahedral chlorozincate dianion. N—H...Cl hydrogen bonds link these ionic constituents into a discrete aggregate, which comprises one formula unit. The effect of hydrogen bonding is reflected in the minor distortions of the [ZnCl 4 ] 2− moiety: distances between the cation and chlorido ligands engaged in classical hydrogen bonds are significantly longer than the others. Secondary interactions comprise C—H...π hydrogen bonding and weak π–π stacking. A Hirshfeld surface analysis indicates that the most abundant contacts in packing stem from H...H (47.8%) and Cl...H/H...Cl (29.3%) interactions.