SUMMARYThe crystal structure of the title compound, C20H15N7O11, has been determined using X-ray diffraction. The compound crystallizes in the triclinic system, space group P − 1 with cell dimensions a = 7.213(2)Å, b = 11.611(4)Å, c = 15.719(2)Å, α = 73.96• (2), β = 79.85• (2) and Z = 2. The structure has been refined to final R = 0.050 for 1695 reflections. The ylide carbon-pyridinium nitrogen bond distance is 1.441(2)Å. The refined structure was found to be non-planar. The plane of the pyridinium ring is rotated relative to the ylide carbanion plane by 39.47• . A comparative study with the AM1 semi-empirical method shows a good agreement with X-ray diffraction data. Indeed the standard deviations between the calculated and experimental values are 0.038Å and 0.056• for bond lengths and bond angles, respectively.