Abstract The crystal structure and non-linear optical properties of L-alaninium perrhenate, C3H8NO2+ ReO4 −, are reported. The protonated amino acid and the perrhenate anion have their usual geometries. The three-dimensional hydrogen-bonded network can be seen as a stacking of layers parallel to the (100) planes. Each layer is formed by chains of alternating positive and negative ions along the b and c axes. Hydrogen bonding of adjacent layers forms alternating chains along the a axis. A high damage threshold and a second-harmonic generation efficiency three times that of KDP make this new material potentially useful in non-linear optics.