Ethyl 7-oxo-7H-benzo[de]imidazo[5,1-a]iso­quinoline-11-carboxyl­ate–tri­fluoro­acetic acid (1/1)

The structure of the title tri­fluoro­acetic acid adduct, C(17)H(12)N(2)O(3)·C(2)HF(3)O(2), contains a tri­fluoro­acetic acid mol­ecule hydrogen bonded to the imine N atom of the imidazole ring of a nearly planar four-fused-ring system (r.m.s. deviatiation = 0.013 Å). The carb­oxy­lic acid group of the triflouro­acetic acid mol­ecule is twisted with respect to the mean plane of the four-fused-ring sytem by 75.9 (2)°. A short intra­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bond occurs. In the crystal, the adduct mol­ecules are arranged into stacks along the b axis via π–π inter­actions between imidazole rings and between imidazole and one of the benzene rings [centroid–centroid distances 3.352 (2) and 3.485 (2) Å, respectively]. Molecules are linked via C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming an alternating polymeric head-to-head/tail-to-tail stepped chain approximately along the a-axis direction and tilted on an axis bisecting the b and c axes.