1-(4-Nitro­phen­yl)-1H-imidazol-3-ium chloride

In the title salt, C(9)H(8)N(3)O(2) (+)·Cl(−), the least-squares planes of the imidazolium and benzene rings are almost coplanar, making a dihedral angle of 4.59 (1)°. In the crystal, the chloride anion links the organic mol­ecules through N—H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds, forming chains that run diagonally across the bc face, which compliment strong C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds between neighbouring mol­ecules. These chains are connected to adjacent chains through two weak C—H⋯Cl inter­actions, resulting in hydrogen-bonded sheets extending along the b and c axes. The absolute structure of the title compound was determined using a Flack x parameter of 0.00 (6) and a Hooft y parameter of 0.03 (2).