Crystal structure, Hirshfeld surface analysis and PIXEL calculations of a 1:1 epimeric mixture of 3-[(4-nitro-benzyl-idene)amino]-2()-(4-nitro-phenyl)-5()-(propan-2-yl)imidazolidin-4-one.

A 1:1 epimeric mixture of 3-[(4-nitro-benzyl-idene)amino]-2()-(4-nitro-phen-yl)-5()-(propan-2-yl)imidazolidin-4-one, CHNO, was isolated from a reaction mixture of 2()-amino-3-methyl-1-oxo-butane-hydrazine and 4-nitro-benz-alde-hyde in ethanol. The product was derived from an initial reaction of 2()-amino-3-methyl-1-oxo-butane-hydrazine at its hydrazine group to provide a 4-nitro-benzyl-idene derivative, followed by a cyclization reaction with another mol-ecule of 4-nitro-benzaldehyde to form the chiral five-membered imidazolidin-4-one ring. The formation of the five-membered imidazolidin-4-one ring occurred with retention of the configuration at the 5-position, but with racemization at the 2-position. In the crystal, N-H⋯O(nitro) hydrogen bonds, weak C-H⋯O(carbon-yl) and C-H⋯O(nitro) hydrogen bonds, as well as C-H⋯π, N-H⋯π and π-π inter-actions, are present. These combine to generate a three-dimensional array. Hirshfeld surface analysis and PIXEL calculations are also reported.