2-Cyano-2-methylpropanamide

In the crystal structure of the title compound, C5H8N2O, molecules are linked via pairs of N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming inversion dimers. These dimers are linked via pairs of N—H⋯H hydrogen bonds into zigzag chains propagating along [101].

In the crystal structure of the title compound, C 5 H 8 N 2 O, molecules are linked via pairs of N-HÁ Á ÁO hydrogen bonds, forming inversion dimers. These dimers are linked via pairs of N-HÁ Á ÁH hydrogen bonds into zigzag chains propagating along [101].
The molecular structure of the title compound is shown in Fig. 1. The bond lengths (Allen et al., 1987) and angles are within normal ranges.
In the crystal, molecules are connected via pairs of N-H···O hydrogen bonds to form inversion dimers (Table 1 and

Experimental
The title compound was prepared by the literature procedure (Zhang et al., 2011). To a solution of methyl 2-cyano-2methylpropanoate (5 g, 39.3 mmol) in methanol (20 ml), ammonia was added slowly at room temperature. After being stirred for 18 h at the room tempreature, a yellow solid was obtained. It was dissolved in ethanol and colourless blocklike crystals of the title compound, suitable for X-ray diffraction analysis, were obtained by slow evaporation of the solvent over 7 days.

Refinement
The NH 2 H atoms were located in a difference electron density map and refined freely. The methyl H atoms were positioned geometrically and constrained to ride on their parent atoms: C-H = 0.96 Å with U iso (H) = 1.5U eq (C).