3-(2,3-Dioxoindolin-1-yl)propanenitrile

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C11H8N2O2, contains two independent molecules (A and B). Each molecule is build up from fused five-and six-membered rings with the former linked to a cyanoethyl group. The indoline ring and two carbonyl O atoms of each molecule are nearly coplanar, with the largest deviations from the mean planes being 0.0198 (9) (molecule A) and 0.0902 (9) angstrom (molecule B), each by a carbonyl O atom. The fused ring system is nearly perpendicular to the mean plane passing through the cyanoethyl chains, as indicated by the dihedral angles between them of 69.72 (9) (molecule A) and 69.15 (9)degrees (molecule B). In the crystal, molecules are linked by C-H center dot center dot center dot O and pi-pi [intercentroid distance between inversion-related indoline (A) rings = 3.6804 (7) angstrom] interactions into a double layer that stacks along the a-axis direction.