The phase diagram of salicylamide (SAM) and 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid (DNBA) system was determined by the thaw-melt method. Results show the formation of an inter-molecular compound and two eutectics. The values of heat of mixing, entropy of fusion, roughness parameter, interfacial energy, and the excess thermodynamic functions were calculated from the enthalpy of fusion data determined by the differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) method. The spectroscopic investigations (IR and NMR) suggest the presence of hydrogen bonding between the components of the compound. A single crystal of the inter-molecular compound was grown using slow cooling technique from the mixed solvent of ethanol and triple distilled water in 2:1 volume ratio. The single crystal analysis and the atomic packing pattern of the grown crystal confirm the monoclinic crystal structure with P2(1)/c space group. The solubility of the inter-molecular compound was determined in the mixed solvent at different temperatures. Using solubility and entropy of fusion data, the entropy of dissolution and heat of mixing were calculated. The optical transmittance spectra of the crystal of the inter-molecular compound show 75% transmittance and the band gap of the crystal was found to be 3.00 eV. The refractive index of the crystal was computed to be 2.50 at the cut oft wavelength. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.