Valyl benzyl ester chloride.

1-benz-yloxy-3-methyl-1-oxobutan-2-aminium chloride), C(12)H(18)NO(2) (+)·Cl(-), the ester group is approximately planar, with a maximum deviation of 0.040 (2) Å from the least-squares plane, and makes a dihedral angle of 28.92 (16)° with the phenyl ring. The crystal structure is organized by N-H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds which join the two components into a chain along the b axis. Pairs of chains arranged anti-parallel are inter-connected by further N-H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds, forming eight-membered rings. Similar packing modes have been observed in a number of amino acid ester halides with a short unit-cell parameter of ca 5.5 Å along the direction in which the chains run.