The central acetyl-acetamide moiety in the title compound, C(14)H(9)N(3)O(6), is buckled [e.g. the C-N-C-O torsion angle is 14.3 (6)°] but the r.m.s. deviation for the five atoms is 0.044 Å. The benzene rings lie on the same side of the central plane, forming dihedral angles of 37.17 (15) and 28.58 (19)° with it. The dihedral angle between the two rings is 17.8 (2)° indicating that the mol-ecule is curved. The carbonyl groups are syn to each other and anti to the amino H atom. This allows for the formation of N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds in the crystal, which leads to twisted chains along the b axis. Positional disorder (50:50) of the O atoms was modelled for both the nitro groups.