A 2:1 co-crystal of p-nitro­benzoic acid and N,N′-bis­(pyridin-3-ylmeth­yl)ethanedi­amide: crystal structure and Hirshfeld surface analysis

The title 2:1 co-crystal, 2C(7)H(5)NO(4)·C(14)H(14)N(4)O(2), in which the complete di­amide mol­ecule is generated by crystallographic inversion symmetry, features a three-mol­ecule aggregate sustained by hydroxyl-O—H⋯N(pyrid­yl) hydrogen bonds. The p-nitro­benzoic acid mol­ecule is non-planar, exhibiting twists of both the carb­oxy­lic acid and nitro groups, which form dihedral angles of 10.16 (9) and 4.24 (4)°, respectively, with the benzene ring. The di­amide mol­ecule has a conformation approximating to a Z shape, with the pyridyl rings lying to either side of the central, almost planar di­amide residue (r.m.s. deviation of the eight atoms being 0.025 Å), and forming dihedral angles of 77.22 (6)° with it. In the crystal, three-mol­ecule aggregates are linked into a linear supra­molecular ladder sustained by amide-N—H⋯O(nitro) hydrogen bonds and orientated along [10-4]. The ladders are connected into a double layer via pyridyl- and benzene-C—H⋯O(amide) inter­actions, which, in turn, are connected into a three-dimensional architecture via π–π stacking inter­actions between pyridyl and benzene rings [inter-centroid distance = 3.6947 (8) Å]. An evaluation of the Hirshfeld surfaces confirm the importance of inter­molecular inter­actions involving oxygen atoms as well as the π–π inter­actions.