A new organic nonlinear optical material L-histidinium maleate 1.5-hydrate (LHM) with the molecular formula C10H16N3O7.5 has been successfully synthesized from aqueous solution by slow solvent evaporation method. The structural characterization of the grown crystal was carried out by single crystal X-ray diffraction at 293(2) K. In the crystal, molecules are linked through inter and intramolecular N-H center dot center dot center dot O and O-H center dot center dot center dot O hydrogen bonds, generate edge fused ring motif. The hydrogen bonded motifs are linked to each other to form a three dimensional network. The FT-IR spectroscopy was used to identify the functional groups of the synthesized compound. The optical behavior of the grown crystal was examined by UV-visible spectral analysis, which shows that the optical absorption is almost negligible in the wavelength range 280-1300 nm. The nonlinear optical property was confirmed by the powder technique of Kurtz and Perry. The thermal behavior of the grown crystal was analyzed by thermogravimetric analysis. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.