The title compound, C(18)H(17)NO(4), was obtained accidentally through acid-catalysed aromatization of a phthalimide-substituted 2-(1-hy-droxy-eth-yl)cyclo-hex-2-enone. It exhibits an intra-molecular O-H⋯O(c) (c = carbonyl) hydrogen bond and forms a three-dimensional network structure via π-π stacking inter-actions between adjacent benzene rings (phthalimide-to-phenyl-ene and phthalimide-to-phthalimide), with centroid-centroid distances of 3.8262 (6) and 3.6245 (5) Å.