The title compound, C15H12N2O3, crystallizes with Z′ = 2 in the space group P\overline{1} and the intra­molecular dimensions show evidence for a polarized mol­ecular–electronic structure. Each of the two independent types of mol­ecule forms its own hydrogen-bonded supra­molecular substructure, and these are entirely different from one another: one type of mol­ecule forms a chain of edge-fused rings, while the other type forms sheets.