2-(1H-Benzimidazol-2-yl)-4,6-dichloro­phenol

The title compound, C(13)H(8)Cl(2)N(2)O, was prepared by the reaction of 3,5-dichloro-2-hy­droxy­benzaldehyde with 1,2-diamino­benzene in methanol at ambient temperature. The title mol­ecule is essentially planar, the mean deviation from the plane of the non-H atoms being 0.037 (2) Å. There is an intra­molecular O—H⋯N hydrogen bond in the mol­ecule. In the crystal, symmetry-related mol­ecules are linked through N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming polymeric chains propagating in [001]. The chains are linked by π–π inter­actions involving the dichloro­phenol ring and the benzoimidazole ring system [centroid–centroid distances = 3.535 (2) and 3.724 (2) Å].