A novel organic crystal. L-arginine 4-nitrophenolate 4-nitrophenol dehydrate (LAPP), synthesized and grown from aqueous solution, is presented. X-ray single diffraction shows that LAPP belongs to the monoclinic crystallographic system with space group P2(1). FT-IR and UV/vis/NIR transmission spectra have been employed to characterize the crystal. The computational calculation based on the density functional theory at the B3LYP/6-31G (d, p) level has been used to compute the first-order hyperpolarizability of LAPP relating to different molecular models. The morphology, nonlinear characteristic and thermal stability of the crystal have also been investigated. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.