A novel ethoxy derivative of an amino acid chemosensor, 3-naphthyl-1-phenyl-5-(2ʹ-fluoro-5ʹ-nitrophenyl)-2-pyrazoline (NPFNP), has been synthesized and characterized by different spectroscopic methods. A single crystal of the ethoxy derivative, 3-naphthyl-1-phenyl-5-(2ʹ-ethoxy-5ʹ-nitrophenyl)-2-pyrazoline NPENP, has been obtained and characterized. The structure holds interest as it carries biologically active pyrazoline as a central ring attaching to electron donating and withdrawing substituents. The major motivation for this work was to gain detailed insight into the structural parameters of this compound for investigating the influence of crystal packing and geometrical dimensions on optical properties. Time-dependent DFT calculations have been employed for comparing the XRD data with theoretical parameters. The results show that the DFT method at B3LYP/6-31G level can well reproduce the structure of the title compound.