A novel compound,2-(anthracen-9-yl)-5-p-tolyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole(C23H16N2O),has been synthesized by the condensation of 4-methylbenzohydrazide and anthracene-9-carbaldehyde in an ethanol solution with chloramine-T.The compound was characterized by 1H-NMR,13C-NMR,MS and single-crystal X-ray diffraction.The crystal belongs to the triclinic system,space group P with a = 7.7817(4),b = 8.8544(5),c = 12.4726(8) ,β = 92.8520(10)°,Z = 2,V = 826.58(8) 3,Dc = 1.352 g/cm3,Mr = 336.38,λ(MoKα) = 0.71073 ,μ = 0.084 mm-1,F(000) = 352,R = 0.0381 and wR = 0.1099.The dihedral angle between anthracene skeleton and phenyl ring is 64.19°.A total of 6354 unique reflections were collected,of which 3172 with I 〉 2σ(I) were observed.X-ray analysis indicated an offset face-to-face π-π stacking interaction between anthracene skeletons and an offset face-to-face π-π stacking interaction between phenyl ring planes.The novel compound molecules are connected through the offset face-to-face π-π stacking interactions to generate a three-dimensional network.The preliminary bioassay results showed that the novel compound exhibited significant insect growth inhibitory activity against Spodoptera litura Fabricius larvae.