(E)-1,3-Bis(anthracen-9-yl)prop-2-en-1-one: crystal structure and DFT study

The title compound, C31H20O, was synthesized using a Claisen–Schmidt condensation. The enone group adopts an s-trans conformation and the anthracene ring systems are twisted at angles of 85.21 (19) and 83.98 (19)° from the enone plane. In the crystal, molecules are connected into chains along [100] via weak C—H...π interactions. The observed band gap of 3.03 eV is in excellent agreement with that (3.07 eV) calculated using density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/6–311++G(d,p) level. The Hirshfeld surface analysis indicates a high percentage of C...H/H...C (41.2%) contacts in the crystal