( Z)-Ethyl 4-chloro-2-[2-(2-chloro­phen­yl)hydrazono]-3-oxobutanoate.

The title compound, C12H12Cl2N2O3, adopts a keto–hydrazo tautomeric form stabilized by an intra­molecular hydrogen bond. The mol­ecule can be considered as consisting of two connected fragments, viz. a chloro­phenyl­hydrazone group, with a Z configuration, and an oxobutanoate group. The mol­ecule is roughly planar, the dihedral angle between the benzene ring and the plane including the aliphatic chain being 4.7 (2)°. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]