(Z)-3-(1H-Indol-3-yl)-2-(3,4,5-tri­methoxy­phen­yl)acrylonitrile

Abstract

In the title compound, C20H18N2O3, the C=C bond of the acrylonitrile group that links the indole and the 3,4,5-trimeth­oxy­phenyl rings has Z geometry, with dihedral angles between the plane of the acrylonitrile unit and the planes of the benzene and indole ring systems of 21.96 (5) and 38.94 (7)°, respectively. The acrylonitrile group is planar (r.m.s. deviation from planarity = 0.037 Å). Mol­ecules are linked into head-to-tail chains that propagate along the b-axis direction by bifurcated N—H⋯O inter­molecular hydrogen bonds, which form an R 1 2(5) motif between the indole NH group and the two meth­oxy O atoms furthest from the nitrile group