Crystal structures of bis(diethylenetriamine)cobalt(III) Heptachlorodimercurate(II)mer-[Co(Dien)2]Hg2Cl7 and (diethylenetriamine)glycylglycinato(1-) cobalt(III) hexachlorodimercurate(II) [Co(Dien)HGlygly]Hg2Cl6

An X-ray diffraction analysis was performed for crystalline [Co(Dien)₂]Hg₂Cl₇ (a = 14.452(2), b = 9.831(1), c = 15.967(2) åΒ = 97.17(1)?, space group P2₁/c, Z = 4) and [Co(Dien)HGlygly]Hg₂Cl₆ (a = 7.693(1), b = 14.439(2), c = 19.961(2) å, Β = 100.31(1)?, space group P2₁ Z = 2), where Dien is diethylenetriamine and HGlygly is the glycylglycine anion [H₂NCH₂C(OH) = NCH₂CO₂]. The anionic moiety is represented by isolated centrosymmetric ions [Hg₄Cl₁₄]_6- in the former and by infinite chains [Hg₂Cl₆] _n ^2n- in the latter (the chain is composed of two alternating vertex-sharing nonequivalent tetrahedral groups HgCl₄. In the cobalt(III) complex cations, the extreme donating atoms of the Dien and HGlygly ligands are in the trans positions of the coordination octahedron.