In the racemic title compound, C24H25NO9, the dihedral angle between the planes of the two benzene-ring systems is 80.16 (6)°, while the side-chain conformation is stabilized by a methyl-ene-carboxyl C-H⋯O hydrogen bond. Weak inter-molecular C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds form inversion dimers [graph set R 2 (2)(16)] which are linked into chains extending along a. Further C-H⋯O hydrogen bonding extends the structure along b through cyclic R 2 (2)(10) motifs. Although no π-π aromatic ring inter-actions are present in the structure, C-H⋯π ring inter-actions across c generate an overall three-dimensional supra-molecular structure.
Keywords: C—H⋯π ring interactions; crown ether catalyst; crystal structure; hydrogen bonding; phase-transfer reaction; phenylpropyl malonate.