L-threonine, an organic material with interesting non-linear optical properties, has been grown in solution and characterized by X-ray diffraction, FT infrared spectral, Raman spectral, UV VIS spectral and thermal techniques. The structural and spectral characteristics show that strong hydrogen bonds appearing in L-threonine have an influence on the stabilization of the crystal structure. The main contributions to the second harmonic generation in threonine results from the hydrogen bond and also from the vibrational part due to very intense IR bands of the hydrogen bond vibrations. The OH and NH involved in strong hydrogen bonds are responsible for the higher thermal stability of L-threonine compared to other organic non-linear optical materials. L-threonine is thermally stable up to 270 degrees C. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V.