1-Methyl-6-nitro-1H-benzimidazole

The title compound, C(8)H(7)N(3)O(2), a potential anti­tumour drug and an anti­oxidant agent, was studied in order to give more insight into structure–function relationships. The 1-methyl­benzimidazole unit of the mol­ecule was found to be exactly planar and the nitro group is inclined at an angle of 10.4 (2)° to the plane of the heterocycle. The bond lengths in the present derivative were analyzed in details and compared with those of the parent unsubstituted analogues in the Cambridge Structural Database. The results have shown that the additional nitro group is not involved in conjugation with the adjacent π-system and hence has no effect on the charge distribution of the heterocyclic ring.