Hydrogen-bonding and π-π stacking inter-actions in tris-(1,10-phenanthroline-κN,N')nickel(II) bis-{[1-tert-butyl-imidazole-2(3H)-thione-κS]trichloridonickelate(II)} acetonitrile disolvate.

The asymmetric unit of the title complex, [Ni(C(12)H(8)N(2))(3)]NiCl(3)(C(7)H(12)N(2)S)·2CH(3)CN, consists of one anion, one-half of a cation and one acetonitrile mol-ecule. The Ni(II) atom in the Ni(phen)(3) cation (phen is 1,10-phenanthroline) lies on an inversion centre in an octa-hedral environment, whereas in the NiCl(3)(tm) anion [tm is 1-tert-butyl-imidazole-2(3H)-thione], the geometry is distorted tetra-hedral. In the crystal structure, inter-molecular C-H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds and π-π stacking inter-actions (centroid-centroid distance = 3.52 Å) lead to the formation of a three-dimensional framework. One of the methyl groups of the tert-butyl group of N-tert-butyl-2-thio-imidazole is disordered between two equally populated positions.