Ab initio quantum calculations are used to analyze the binding of complexes pairing OOH with HOOCHO. Six minima are located on the potential energy surface, all of cyclic geometry. Of particular interest are the OH···O and CH···O H-bonds that arise in the complexes and the manner in which these interactions influence the internal properties of the subunits. The analysis is complicated by the presence of an intramolecular H-bond in the unperturbed HOOCHO molecule, which must be broken in order to form the pair of intermolecular H-bonds that are responsible for the binding in the most stable complex. The CH bond of HOOCHO is contracted, and its stretching frequency undergoes a blue shift, when this group participates in a H-bond.