A simple compound with an ­unexpectedly complex structure: 4‐pyridone 6/5‐hydrate

The crystal structure of the title compound, C₅H₅NO·H₂O, contains five independent mol­ecules of pyridone and six independent water mol­ecules. The space group is P2₁, but four of the pyridones and four waters correspond closely to P2₁/n. The packing involves two layers; one consists of head‐to‐tail chains of pyridone mol­ecules 1–4 linked by N—H?O hydrogen bonds, and a second layer involves all the waters and the fifth pyridone. The layers are linked by hydrogen bonds from water to pyridone oxy­gen. The four water O atoms that accept only one classical hydrogen bond have their environment completed by C—H?O interactions.