The title compound, C13H10N2O2 [also called 1-(pyridin-2-yl)-3-(pyridin-3-yl)propane-1,3-dione], features an almost planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.0095 Å) central C3O2 core consolidated by an intra-molecular hy-droxy-O-H⋯O(carbon-yl) hydrogen bond. Twists are evident in the mol-ecule, as seen in the dihedral angles between the central core and the 2- and pyridin-3-yl rings of 8.91 (7) and 15.88 (6)°, respectively. The conformation about the C=C bond [1.3931 (17) Å] is Z, and the N atoms lie to the same side of the mol-ecule. In the mol-ecular packing, supra-molecular chains along the a axis are mediated by π(pyridin-2-yl)-π(pyridin-3-yl) inter-actions [inter-centroid distance = 3.7662 (9) Å]. The observation that chains pack with no directional inter-actions between them is consistent with the calculated electrostatic potential, which indicates that repulsive inter-actions dominate.
Keywords: Hirshfeld surface; crystal structure; hydrogen bond; propane-1,3-dione.