1‐Ethyl 2,2‐dimethyl 3‐(1,3‐benzodioxol‐5‐yl)propane‐1,2,2‐tricarboxylate

The molecular structure of the title triester compound, C₁₇H₂₀O₈, consists of a benzodioxole fused‐ring system, an ethoxycarbonylmethyl group and two methoxycarbonyl groups arranged around a tetrahedral carbon center. Unlike similar triesters, which are oils, the title compound crystallizes at room temperature as interdigitated bilayers of triester molecules, with short O...H contacts from the methylene H atoms of benzodioxole to the carbonyl O atom of the ethoxycarbonylmethyl group and to a ring O atom of the benzodioxole group of a neighboring molecule within the bilayer. The persistence of these short C—H...O interactions from the activated H atoms of the benzodioxole ring at both 100 and 300 K indicate that they help provide the stabilization necessary for crystallization from the oil.