N,N′-Bis[2-chloro-5-(trifluoro­meth­yl)benzyl­idene]ethane-1,2-diamine

The mol­ecule of the title Schiff base compound, C(18)H(12)Cl(2)F(6)N(2), adopts an E configuration with respect to the azomethine C=N bond. Intra­molecular C—H⋯F (× 2) and C—H⋯Cl (× 2) hydrogen bonds generate S(5) ring motifs. The imino group is coplanar with the aromatic ring. Within the mol­ecule, the planar units are parallel, but extend in opposite directions from the methyl­ene bridge, as indicated by the dihedral angle between the two benzene rings of 3.74 (6)°. The inter­esting features of the crystal structure are weak inter­molecular Cl⋯N and F⋯F inter­actions, with distances of 2.9192 (11) and 3.2714 (10) Å, respectively, which are shorter than the sum of the van der Waals radii of the relevent atoms. These inter­actions link neighbouring mol­ecules into dimers which are stacked down the b axis.