Diethyl 2,2′-(ethane-1,2-diyldi­oxy)di­benzo­ate

The mol­ecular title compound, C(20)H(22)O(6), was obtained by the reaction of ethyl 2-hy­droxy­benzoate with 1,2-di­chloro­ethane. The mol­ecule lies on a twofold rotation axis which passes through the middle of the central ethyl­ene bridge. This group exhibits a gauche conformation with the corresponding O—C—C—O torsion angle being 73.2 (2)°. The C atoms of the carboxyl group, the aryl and the O—CH(2) group are coplanar, with an r.m.s. deviation of 0.01 Å. The two aryl rings form a dihedral angle of 67.94 (4)°. The ester ethyl group is disordered over two sets of sites with an occupancy ratio of 0.59 (2):0.41 (2). The crystal packing is dominated by van der Waals forces.