Methyl 3-[4-(4-nitro­benz­yloxy)phen­yl]propano­ate

The title compound, C(17)H(17)NO(5), crystallizes with two mol­ecules (A and B) in the asymmetric unit. The conformational structures of the two mol­ecules show small but significant differences in the dihedral angles between the two aryl rings with values of 18.8 (1)° for mol­ecule A and 7.5 (1)° for mol­ecule B. In mol­ecule A, the propano­ate group is twisted out of the plane of the benzene group [C(ar)—C(ar)—C—C torsion angle = −44.9 (2)°], while for mol­ecule B, this group lies closer to the plane [C(ar)—C(ar)—C—C torsion angle = 8.6 (3)°]. C—H⋯O inter­actions characterize the crystal-packing inter­actions in this compound.