Bis[1,2-bis-(3,5-di-methyl-phen-yl)ethyl-ene-1,2-di-thiol-ato(1-)]nickel(II).

The title compound, [Ni(C(18)H(18)S(2))(2)], 1, crystallizes upon an inversion center in monoclinic P2(1)/c with intra-ligand C-S and C-C(chelate) bond lengths that are indicative of the radical monoanionic redox level for the di-thiol-ene ligand. The arene rings are canted at angles of 43.54†(4) and 71.36†(3)° with respect to the NiS(4) plane. Mol-ecules of 1 form columnar stacks along the a axis of the cell with a ∼59° angle between the mol-ecular plane and the stacking axis. Adjacent stacks alternate in the directionality of their cant relative to the stacking axis such that a 37.2° angle is defined by the core NiS(4) planes of mol-ecules from adjoining columns. Inter-molecular inter-actions are governed by methyl C-H→π(arene) hydrogen bonds, with each mol-ecule enjoying four such inter-actions as acceptor and providing four such inter-actions as donor.