catena-Poly[[bis(1-ethyl-1H-imidazole-κN3)cadmium]-di-μ-chlorido-[(1-ethyl-1H-imidazole-κN3)cadmium]-di-μ-chlorido-[(1-ethyl-1H-imidazole-κN3)cadmium]-di-μ-chlorido-[bis(1-ethyl-1H-imidazole-κN3)cadmium]]

The asymmetric unit of the crystal structure of the title compound, [Cd2Cl4(C5H8N2)(3)](n), contains two Cd-II cations, three 1-ethyl-1H-imidazole ligands, and four Cl- anions. The two Cd-II atoms have quite different coordination environments: one is octahedrally coordinated by four Cl atoms and two N atoms from two 1-ethyl-1H-imidazole ligands, and the second is in a severely distorted fivefold coordination by four Cl atoms and one N atom from a 1-ethyl-1H-imidazole ligand. Adjacent Cd-II cations are interconnected alternately by pairs of chloride bridges, generating an infinite step-like chain along the a axis. One ethyl group of the 1-ethyl-1H-imidazole ligand is disordered over two sets of sites with a 0.668 (13):0.332 (13) site-occupancy ratio.