Morpholinium perchlorate, an organic nonlinear optical material was synthesized and the crystals were grown by the slow evaporation solution growth technique. Single crystal X-ray diffraction study revealed that the grown crystal belongs to orthorhombic system with space group of P2(1)2(1)2(1). The structure of the compound was also confirmed by H-1 NMR studies. The Fourier transform infrared analysis was used to identify the various functional groups present in the title compound. The UV-visible absorption spectrum was recorded to study the optical transmittance in the range from 200 to 1100 nm. The optical band gap, reflectance, refractive index (n), extinction coefficient and electric susceptibility were calculated using transmittance data. The mechanical stability of the grown crystal was studied by Vickers's micro hardness test. The PL spectrum of the title compound shows red emission at 648 nm. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.