1-Butyl-3-(1-naphthylmethyl)benzimidazolium hemi{di-μ-iodido-bis[diiodidomercurate(II)]} dimethyl sulfoxide monosolvate

In the title compound, (C(22)H(23)N(2))[Hg(2)I(6)](0.5)center dot(CH(3))(2)SO, the 1-butyl- 3-(1-naphthylmethyl) benzimidazolium anion lies across a centre of inversion. The dihedral angle between the benzimidazolium and naphthalene ring systems is 81.9 (3)degrees. In the crystal structure, pi-pi stacking interactions are observed between the imidazolium ring and the unsubstituted benzene ring of the naphthalene ring system, with a centroid-centroid separation of 3.510 (5) angstrom. In the centrosymmetric anion, the Hg(II) atoms are in a distorted tetrahedral coordination. The dimethyl sulfoxide solvent molecule is disordered over two sites with occupancies of 0.615 (9) and 0.385 (9).