Ethyl 2-[(4-chloro-phen-yl)hydrazono]-3-oxobutanoate.

The mol-ecule of the title oxobutanoate derivative, C(12)H(13)ClN(2)O(3), is nearly planar; the inter-planar angle between the benzene ring and the mean plane through the hydrazono-3-oxobutanoate unit is 2.69 (3)°. An intra-molecular N-H⋯O hydrogen bond generates an S(6) ring motif. In the crystal packing, C-H⋯O(3-oxo) inter-actions link mol-ecules into dimers. The dimers thus formed are linked through C-H⋯O(carboxyl-ate C=O) inter-actions, leading to the formation of ribbons along the [01] direction, which are stabilized via Cl⋯Cl [3.2916 (3) Å] contacts. The ribbons are stacked via C⋯O contacts [3.2367 (12)-3.3948 (12) Å].