Ethyl 2-[(E)-4-(dimethyl-amino)benzyl-idenehydrazino]-5-nitro-benzoate.

The title compound, C(18)H(20)N(4)O(4), exists in the E configuration with respect to the C=N bond of the methyl-idine unit. The dihedral angle between the two benzene rings is 9.01 (6)°. An intra-molecular N-H⋯O hydrogen bond involving the benzoate unit generates an S(6) ring motif. In the crystal, the mol-ecules are linked by weak C-H⋯O inter-actions into infinite chains along the b axis. These chains are further connected into sheets parallel to the ab plane which are stacked approximately along the c axis. A C-H⋯π inter-action is also observed.