Poly[bis{3,3′-[(biphenyl-4,4′-diyl)dimethylene]diimidazol-1-ium} γ-octamolybdate(VI)]

In the title compound, {(C(20)H(20)N(4))(2)[Mo(8)O(26)]}(n), the asymmetric unit contains half of an [Mo(8)O(26)](4-) anion and one 3,3'-[(biphenyl-4,4'-diyl)dimethylene]diimidazol-1-ium dication. In the anion, four distorted [MoO(6)] octahedra are connected via edge-sharing, forming an [Mo(4)O(13)](2-) building block, composed of Mo-O(t), Mo-O(mu 2 ), Mo-O(mu 3) and Mo-O(mu 4) units, with Mo-O distances ranging from 1.6858 (15) to 2.4785 (13) angstrom. The gamma-type [Mo(8)O(26)](4-) anion is completed by crystallographic inversion symmetry and is linked into an infinite chain along [100] by corner-sharing. The anionic chains and the cations are joined by N-H center dot center dot center dot O hydrogen bonds, generating layers extending parallel to (001).