The graphitic layered compound C6N9H3·HCl was prepared by reaction between melamine and cyanuric chloride under high pressure–high temperature conditions in a piston cylinder apparatus and characterised using SEM, powder X-ray diffraction, UV Raman and near-IR Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy with near-IR excitation. Theoretical calculations using density functional methods permitted evaluation of the mode of attachment of H atoms to nitrogen sites in the structure and a better understanding of the X-ray diffraction pattern. Broadening in the UV and near-IR FT Raman spectra indicate possible disordering of the void sites within the graphitic layers or it could be due to electron–phonon coupling effects.