5-Benzylidene-3-phenyl-2-phenylimino-1,3-thiazolidin-4-one

The title compound, C22H16N2OS, is a chalcone analog with a thiazolidinone core that was synthesized as a potential cytotoxic and anticancer agent. The structure is commensurately modulated by unit-cell doubling along the direction of the a axis of the cell. The two crystallographically independent molecules are differerentiated by the dihedral angle between the mean planes of the benzylidene phenyl group against the thiazolidin-4-one moiety, which is 5.01 (7)° in one molecule, and 17.41 (6)° in the other. The two molecules are otherwise close to being indistinguishable and are related by crystallographic pseudo-translation. The two molecules are not planar but are slightly bent with the benzylidene and phenylimino substituents being bent upwards with respect to the center planes of the two molecules. The degree of bending of the two halves of the thiazolidin-4-one moieties (defined as the planes that intersect at the S atom) are 11.08 (7) and 15.88 (7)°. Packing of the molecules is facilitated by C—H...π interactions and slipped π–π stacking between one of the phenyl rings and a neighboring ethylene π system [distance between the centroid of the ethylene group and the closest phenyl C atom = 3.267 (2) Å, Cg(phenyl)...Cg(ethylene) = 3.926 Å]