Crystal growth, characterization, structural characteristics and second harmonic generation in N-benzoyl glycine crystals

Optical quality single crystals of N-benzoyl glycine (NBG) with good morphology of size 15 mm × 3 mm × 3 mm have been grown by slow evaporation solution growth technique using acetone–water (60:40) as solvent. The grown crystals were characterised by elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, FT-Raman spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction techniques. From thermal studies it was found that the NBG crystal is stable up to 188 °C. The OH and NH groups involving in strong hydrogen bonding could be responsible for the improved mechanical and thermal properties of NBG. The crystal structure of NBG is stabilized due to strong O–H…O and N–H…O hydrogen bond interactions. The second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency of NBG is two times greater than that of urea. The main contribution to the SHG in NBG results from the hydrogen bond interactions that appeared as very intense IR bands of the hydrogen bond vibrations in the FTIR and FT-Raman spectrum of NBG.