The crystal structure of ethyl 2-[2-(4-methylbenzoyl)-5- p-tolyl-1 H-imidazol-1-yl]acetate is stabilized by intermolecular C—H⋯N and C—H⋯O interactions.
In the title compound, C 22H 22N 2O 3, the plane of the five-membered ring is oriented at dihedral angles of 45.4 (1) and 52.5 (1)° to the phenyl rings. Furthermore, this ring makes an angle of 85.2 (2)° with the plane of the ethyl acetate substituent. The molecular structure is affected by an intramolecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bond between an H atom from the p-tolyl group and the carbonyl O atom of the acetate. The methyl group of the ethyl acetate residue is disordered over two sites with equal occupancies. The crystal structure features intermolecular C—H⋯O and C—H⋯N interactions. One of the C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds forms a C(5) chain motif extending along the a axis. In addition, C—H⋯N contacts form inversion dimers with R 2 2(12) ring motifs, linking the imidazole ring system to the benzene ring of the p-tolyl substituent.