Racemic 1,2‐diphenylbut‐3‐yn‐2‐ol

Molecules of the title compound, C₁₆H₁₄O, are chiral and crystallize in space group P with Z′ = 2, and with one R and one S mol­ecule in the asymmetric unit. The conformations of the phenyl rings in the two independent mol­ecules differ slightly. Supramolecular organization in the crystal is via tetrameric O—H?H(O) hydrogen‐bonded synthons formed separately by each conformer. These tetrameric synthons stack along the c axis via Ctriple‐bond]C—H?O(H) hydrogen bonds. The only link between the conformer stacks is provided by weaker C_methylene—H and C_phenyl—H interactions with π_arene density.