1-Benzyl-3,5-bis­(4-chloro­benzyl­idene)piperidin-4-one

The title compound, C(26)H(21)Cl(2)NO, crystallizes with two symmetry-independent mol­ecules (A and B) in the asymmetric unit. In both mol­ecules, the central heterocyclic ring adopts a sofa conformation. The dihedral angles between the planar part of this central heterocyclic ring [maximum deviations of 0.011 (1) and 0.036 (1) Å in mol­ecules A and B, respectively] and the two almost planar [maximum deviations of 0.020 (1) and 0.008 (1) Å in A and 0.007 (1) and 0.011 (1) in B] side-chain fragments that include the aromatic ring and bridging atoms are 20.1 (1) and 31.2 (1)° in mol­ecule A, and 26.4 (1) and 19.6 (1)° in mol­ecule B. The dihedral angles between the planar part of the heterocyclic ring and the benzyl substituent are 79.7 (1) and 53.2 (1)° in mol­ecules A and B, respectively. In the crystal, weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the two independent mol­ecules into dimers.