Hydrogen bonding and crystal packing play major roles in determining the conformations of ethyl methyl 2-(triphenylphosphoranylidene)malonate, Ph₃P=C(CO₂CH₃)CO₂CH₂CH₃ or C₂₄H₂₃O₄P, (I), and dimethyl 2-(triphenylphosphoranylidene)malonate, Ph₃P=C(CO₂CH₃)₂ or C₂₃H₂₁O₄P, (II). In (I), the acyl O atom of the ethyl ester group is anti to the P atom, while the O atom of the methyl ester group is syn. In (II), the dimethyl diester is a 1:1 mixture of anti-anti and syn-anti conformers.