Conformation of N‐methyl‐4‐piperidyl 2,4‐dinitrobenzoate

The crystal structure of N‐methyl‐4‐piperidyl 2,4‐di­nitro­benzoate, C₁₃H₁₅N₃O₆, (I), at 130 (2) K reveals that, in the solid state, the mol­ecule exists in the equatorial conformation, (Ieq). Thus, the through‐bond interaction present in the axial conformation, (Iax), is not strong enough to overcome the syn–diaxial interactions between the axial methyl substituent and the axial H atoms on the two piperidyl ring C atoms either side of the ester‐linked ring C atom. The carboxyl­ate group in (I) is orthogonal to the aromatic ring, in contrast with other 2,4‐di­nitro­benzoates, which are coplanar. The piperidyl–ester C—O bond distance is 1.467 (3) Å, which is actually shorter than other equatorial cyclo­hexyl–ester C—O distances. This shorter piperidyl–ester C—O bond distance is due to the reduced electron demand of the orthogonal ester group.