The cis-MCl₂‥HN⁺ chelated hydrogen bond synthon has been exploited in preparation of crystalline [4,4′- H₂bipy][MCl₄] (M = Mn 2 and Cd 3), which shows a one-dimensional substructure of the form [{MCl₄}_n]^2n– consisting of a kinked chain of doubly edge sharing MCl₆ octahedra. These chains are cross-linked by hydrogen bonding to the [4,4′-H₂bipy]²⁺ ions.