2,5-Diethoxy-1,4-bis[(trimethylsilyl)ethynyl]benzene, C(20)H(30)O(2)Si(2), (I), constitutes one of the first structurally characterized examples of a family of compounds, viz. the 2,5-dialkoxy-1,4-bis[(trimethylsilyl)ethynyl]benzene derivatives, used in the preparation of oligo(phenyleneethynylene)s via Pd/Cu-catalysed cross-coupling. 2,5-Diethoxy-1,4-diethynylbenzene, C(14)H(14)O(2), (II), results from protodesilylation of (I). 1,4-Diethynyl-2,5-bis(heptyloxy)benzene, C(24)H(34)O(2), (III), is a long alkyloxy chain analogue of (II). The molecules of compounds (I)-(III) are located on sites with crystallographic inversion symmetry. The large substituents either in the alkynyl group or in the benzene ring have a marked effect on the packing and intermolecular interactions of adjacent molecules. All the compounds exhibit weak intermolecular interactions that are only slightly shorter than the sum of the van der Waals radii of the interacting atoms. Compound (I) displays C-H...pi interactions between the methylene H atoms and the acetylenic C atom. Compound (II) shows pi-pi interactions between the acetylenic C atoms, complemented by C-H...pi interactions between the methyl H atoms and the acetylenic C atoms. Unlike (I) or (II), compound (III) has weak nonclassical hydrogen-bond-type interactions between the acetylenic H atoms and the ether O atoms.