Dissolution of a-cyclodextrin (a-CD) in 9:1 water-nitromethane smoothly generates the title compound, which crystallizes as the pentahydrate in the orthorhombic space group P2 1 2 1 2 1 with a = 9.452(4), b = 14.299(3), c= 37.380(10) A , , and Z= 4. Its crystal structure analysis revealed the a-CD macrocycle in an unstrained conformation stabilized through a ring of O-2···O-3% hydrogen bonds between five of the six adjacent glucose residues. The nitromethane is located in the a-CD cavity in an orientation parallel to the plane of the macrocycle, and assumes two sites of equal population with the nitro group in excessive thermal motion; the guest is held by van der Waals contacts and C-H···O-type hydrogen bonds to the pyranose H-3 and H-5 protons. The packing of the macrocycles in the crystal lattice is of cage herringbone-type with an extensive intra-and intermolecular hydrogen bonding network. The ready formation of a nitromethane inclusion complex in aqueous nitromethane, and the subtleties of its molecular structure amply demonstrate the ease with which water is expelled from the a-CD cavity by a more hydrophobic co-solvent.