Dichloridobis(1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-dione-κN,N')mercury(II).

In the title compound, [HgCl(2)(C(12)H(6)N(2)O(2))(2)], the Hg(II) atom is located on a twofold rotation axis and exists within a distorted octa-hedral geometry defined by a cis-Cl(2)N(4) donor set. Mol-ecules are connected into layers in the ac plane via extensive C-H⋯Cl contacts as each Cl atom forms two such inter-actions. Contacts between the layers are of the type C=O⋯π [O⋯centroid distance = 3.110 (8) Å].