N,N'-Bis(3-chloro-phen-yl)malonamide

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C(15)H(12)Cl(2)N(2)O(2), contains two independent mol-ecules. In both independent mol-ecules, the N-H bond in one of the amide fragments is anti to the meta-chloro group of the adjacent benzene ring and that in the other amide group is syn to the other meta-chloro group. Furthermore, in both mol-ecules, each amide group is almost coplanar with the adjacent phenyl ring, making dihedral angles of 10.5 (2) and 8.7 (2)° in one molecule and 9.0 (2) and 9.6 (2)° in the other. The planes of the amide groups are inclined at dihedral angles of 83.4 (1) and 87.4 (1)° in the two mol-ecules. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked into a chain by inter-molecular N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds.