Two polymorphic crystal forms (yellow and orange) of 2,2-di(p-nitrophenyl)-1-picrylhydrazine were crystallized from the same dichloromethane solution, and their crystal structures determined. The yellow form is triclinic, P1, a = 9.055(3), b = 10.396(4), c = 13.3187(3) Å, α = 89.83(2), β = 79.89(3), γ = 70.83(3)° at 228 K; R = 0.060, and Rw = 0.057 for 3511 reflections with I > 2σI. The orange form is monoclinic, P21/c, a = 8.999(3), b = 25.041(11), c = 12.207(5) Å, β = 121.66(2)° at 223 K; R = 0.053, and Rw = 0.058 for 3651 reflections with I > 2σI. The molecular structures in the two crystal forms are very similar. Both forms contain one solvent molecule per molecule of 2,2-di(p-nitrophenyl)-1-picrylhydrazine. In each, the two hydrazine nitrogen atoms have strong resonance interactions with the vicinal aromatic groups and both are sp2 hybridized. The molecular structure around the N—N linkage shows a staggered conformation. Thus the resonance interaction between the picryl group and the other two p-nitrophenyl groups is negligible. The difference in color between the two crystal forms is attributed to a difference in molecular packing. Key words: crystal structure, polymorphism, picrylhydrazine, conformation.
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