Abstract
The title compound, C9H8N2O3, was prepared by reaction of phenol, glyoxylic acid and urea in water. The imidazolidine ring adopts an almost planar conformation (r.m.s. deviation = 0.012 Å) and is twisted by 89.3 (1)° relative to the benzene ring. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked by N-H⋯O and O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds into a three-dimensional framework.