MgHg5 crystallizes in the trigonal R32 space group. Mg(1) is bonded to six Hg(1,1,1) and six equivalent Hg(2) atoms to form a mixture of corner and edge-sharing MgHg12 cuboctahedra. There are five inequivalent Hg sites. In the first Hg site, Hg(1) is bonded in a 8-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Mg(1) and six Hg(1,1) atoms. In the second Hg site, Hg(1) is bonded in a 8-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Mg(1) and six equivalent Hg(1) atoms. In the third Hg site, Hg(2) is bonded in a distorted trigonal planar geometry to three equivalent Mg(1) atoms. In the fourth Hg site, Hg(1) is bonded in a 8-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Mg(1) and six Hg(1,1) atoms. In the fifth Hg site, Hg(1) is bonded in a 8-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Mg(1) and six equivalent Hg(1) atoms.
MgHg5 crystallizes in the trigonal R32 space group. Mg(1) is bonded to six Hg(1,1,1) and six equivalent Hg(2) atoms to form a mixture of corner and edge-sharing MgHg12 cuboctahedra. All Mg(1)-Hg(1,1,1) bond lengths are 3.37 Å. All Mg(1)-Hg(2) bond lengths are 3.11 Å. There are five inequivalent Hg sites. In the first Hg site, Hg(1) is bonded in a 8-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Mg(1) and six Hg(1,1) atoms. There are four shorter (3.09 Å) and two longer (3.15 Å) Hg(1)-Hg(1,1) bond lengths. In the second Hg site, Hg(1) is bonded in a 8-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Mg(1) and six equivalent Hg(1) atoms. In the third Hg site, Hg(2) is bonded in a distorted trigonal planar geometry to three equivalent Mg(1) atoms. In the fourth Hg site, Hg(1) is bonded in a 8-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Mg(1) and six Hg(1,1) atoms. Both Hg(1)-Mg(1) bond lengths are 3.37 Å. There are four shorter (3.09 Å) and two longer (3.15 Å) Hg(1)-Hg(1,1) bond lengths. In the fifth Hg site, Hg(1) is bonded in a 8-coordinate geometry to two equivalent Mg(1) and six equivalent Hg(1) atoms. There are four shorter (3.09 Å) and two longer (3.15 Å) Hg(1)-Hg(1) bond lengths.