(2E)-1-(4-Chlorophenyl)-3-(4-nitrophenyl)prop-2-en-1-one

In the title compound, C15H10ClNO3, a substituted chalcone, the dihedral angle between the benzene rings is 5.1 (7)°. The nitro group makes a dihedral angle of 12.5 (3)° with the benzene ring to which it is attached. In the crystal, weak C—H⋯O interactions link the molecules into a one-dimensional array along [010]. The crystal studied was an inversion twin, with a refined ratio for the twin components of 0.6060 (9):0.3939 (1).

TSY thanks the University of Mysore for research facilities. BN thanks the UGC for financial assistance through a BSR one-time grant for the purchase of chemicals. JPJ acknowledges the NSF-MRI program (grant No. CHE-1039027) for funds to purchase the X-ray diffractometer.
Supplementary data and figures for this paper are available from the IUCr electronic archives (Reference: FJ2627).

Sarojini Comment
Chalcones can be easily obtained from the Claisen-Schmidt reaction of aromatic aldehydes and aromatic ketones.
In (I), the dihedral angle between the mean planes of the 4-chlorophenyl and 4-nitrophenyl rings is 5.1 (7)° ( Fig. 1). The nitro group makes a dihedral angle of 12.5 (3)° with the plane of the benzene to which it is bonded. In the crystal, weak C -H···N intermolecular interactions are observed and contribute to packing stability (Fig. 2). The crystal studied was an inversion twin, the refined ratio of the twin components being 0.6060 (9):0.3939 (1).

Refinement
All of the H atoms were placed in their calculated positions and then refined using the riding model with Atom-H lengths of 0.93Å (CH). Isotropic displacement parameters for these atoms were set to 1.2 (CH) times U eq of the parent atom.

Special details
Geometry. All esds (except the esd in the dihedral angle between two l.s. planes) are estimated using the full covariance matrix. The cell esds are taken into account individually in the estimation of esds in distances, angles and torsion angles; correlations between esds in cell parameters are only used when they are defined by crystal symmetry. An approximate (isotropic) treatment of cell esds is used for estimating esds involving l.s. planes.

Fractional atomic coordinates and isotropic or equivalent isotropic displacement parameters (Å 2 )
x y z U iso */U eq