3-(2-Methylphenyl)propanoic acid

The title acid, C10H12O2. crystallized in the centrosymmetric space group P2(1)/e with one molecule in the asymmetric unit. There is a single hydrogen bond with O-D... O-A = 2.639(2) Angstrom and O-D-H ... O-A = 175(3)degrees. This bond forms an R-2(2)(8) cyclic dimer about a center of symmetry. The non-H atoms of the molecule lie nearly in a plane. The molecules in this structure are oriented such that their best-fit planes are either strictly parallel or make dihedral angles of 88.9(1)degrees. The structure comprises double layers of aromatic rings separated by double layers of hydrogen-bonded aliphatic strings and is analogous to the structures of other terminally aryl-substituted n-aliphatic carboxylic acids.