Terephthalic acid has been investigated by Raman spectroscopy up to 15 GPa. According to ab initio calculations, it can be speculated that both of pi-pi stacking interactions between molecules and the symmetry of hydrogen bonds are enhanced with gradually increasing pressure. Furthermore, we use the Hirshfeld surface to map the pi-pi stacking interaction in the TPA molecule at high pressure. The Raman spectra and ab initio calculation results indicate that the phase stability of TPA is related to the one-dimensional hydrogen bond network and inter-chain aromatic pi-pi stacking interaction. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.