11-Methyl-12a-phenyl-9a,12a-dihydrophenanthro[9',10':5,6][1,4]dioxino[2,3-d]oxazole and 9a-(10-hydroxyphenanthren-9-yl)-11,12a-diphenyl-9a,12a-dihydrophenanthro[9',10':5,6][1,4]dioxino[2,3-d]oxazole

In the title compounds, C(24)H(17)NO(3), (I), and C(43)H(27)NO(5), (II), the dioxine ring is not planar and tends toward a boat conformation. The oxazoline ring adopts a twisted conformation in molecule (I) but is essentially planar in molecule (II). The configuration of the dioxine-oxazoline system is determined by the sp(3) state of the two shared atoms. The phenanthrene moiety is nearly coplanar with the dioxine ring, while the phenyl ring is perpendicular to the attached oxazole ring. The triclinic unit cell of (II) contains two crystallographically independent molecules related by a pseudo-inversion centre.