Zinc(II) and mercury(II) thiocyanate complexes with nicotinamide, bis(nicotinamide-N)-bis(thiocyanato-N)zinc(II) (1) and catena[nicotinamide-N-(mu-thiocyanato-S,N)(thiocyanato-S)mercury(II)] (2), have been prepared and characterized by spectroscopic, thermal and X-ray crystallographic methods. The vibrational bands of diagnostic value are compared to the values of the free ligand and the data are in good correlation with the X-ray results. Centrosymmetrical hydrogen bonded dimers are found, R-2(2)(10) in 1 and R-2(2)(8) in 2. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.