4-Methyl-N-[(E)-4-methyl-1-(4-methyl-phenyl-sulfon-yl)-1,2-dihydropyridin-2-yl-idene]benzene-sulfonamide

The reaction of 2-(amino-meth-yl)pyridine and 4-toluene-sulfonyl chloride in CH(2)Cl(2) at pH 8 led to the title compound, C(20)H(20)N(2)O(4)S(2). The aromatic rings are almost perpendicular to each other and the dihedral angles between the aromatic ring planes are 74.33 (9) (central pyridine versus benzene ring of the tosyl group bonded to the imine functionality), 73.77 (6) (pyridine versus benzene ring of the tosyl group bonded to pyridinic N atom) and 79.83 (9)° (benzene rings of tosyl groups). In the crystal structure, inter-molecular aromatic π-π stacking inter-actions [centroid-centroid separation = 3.6274 (14) Å] help to consolidate the packing.