(n-Nitrophenyl)acetonitrile, with n = 2, 3 and 4.

The molecular structures of the three title nitro-substituted phenylacetonitriles, C(8)H(6)N(2)O(2), at 123 K show that the molecules are linked together very differently. In the 2- and 4-nitro compounds, there are both O...H and N(cyano)...H interactions, whereas the crystal lattice of the 3-nitro compound is essentially built up by O...H interactions. The O atoms seem to prefer the aromatic H atoms, while the cyano N atoms prefer the methylene H atoms. The phenyl-nitro torsion angles are -19.83 (13), -5.69 (12) and -2.88 (12) degrees, while the phenyl-cyanomethyl torsion angles are -62.27 (12), -147.99 (9) and -16.75 (14) degrees in the 2-, 3- and 4-NO(2)-substituted compounds, respectively.