We report the crystal growth studies of 4-nitro-4'-methoxy benzylidene aniline (NMOBA). NMOBA was synthesized by the condensation of the corresponding aniline and aldehyde. Formation of the product was confirmed from the FTIR and NMR spectral analyses. Powder second harmonic generation analysis of the crystal showed that its efficiency is 1.24 times than that of KDP. The solubility of NMOBA was determined in toluene at different temperatures. Single crystals were grown from toluene by restricted evaporation and slow cooling methods. The structural characterization of the grown crystal was carried out by X-ray diffraction method and the thermal properties were studied by TGA, DTA and DSC experiments and optical transparency of the sample was determined by UV-VIS-NIR spectroscopy. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.