Synthesis and crystal structure of <i>anti</i>-10-(4-cyanophenyl)-10,11,22,23-tetrahydro-9<i>H</i>,21<i>H</i>-5,8:15,12-bis(metheno)[1,5,11]triazacyclohexadecino[1,16-<i>a</i>:5,6-<i>a</i>′]diindole dichloromethane monosolvate

The asymmetric unit of the title compound is composed of one host mol-ecule, <i>anti</i>-4-(1⁹ <i>H</i>,5⁹ <i>H</i>-3-aza-1,5(3,9)-dicarbazola-cyclo-octa-phane-3-yl)benzo-nitrile and one di-chloro-methane solvate mol-ecule, C₃₆H₂₈N₄·CH₂Cl₂. The host mol-ecule possesses a planar chirality but crystallizes as a racemate in the space group <i>P</i>2₁/<i>c</i>. It adopts an <i>anti</i>-configuration, in which two carbazole rings are partially overlapped with a parallel orientation. The two carbazole ring systems are slightly bent, and the C atoms at the 3- and 1-positions show the largest deviations from the mean planes. The dihedral angle between two carbazole rings is 9.42 (3)°, forming an intra-molecular parallel π-π inter-action [<i>Cg</i>⋯<i>Cg</i> = 3.2755 (9) Å]. In the crystal, the mol-ecules are linked <i>via</i> host-host and host-guest C-H⋯π inter-actions, forming chain structures along the <i>a</i>-axis direction. The mol-ecules are linked into a ribbon structure along the <i>c-</i>axis direction by further C-H⋯π inter-actions. As a result, The mol-ecules are cross-linked by C-H⋯π inter-actions into a three-dimensional network.