Structural phase transition driven by spin-lattice interaction in a quasi-one-dimensional spin system of [1-(4′-iodobenzyl)pyridinium][Ni(mnt) ₂]

Crystal structures and magnetic properties were determined for two novel compounds, [1-(4′-iodobenzyl)-pyridinium][M(mnt)₂] (mnt ^2- = maleonitriledithiolate; M = Ni (1) or Cu (2)). At room temperature, single crystals of 1 and 2 were isostructural, featuring the formation of segregated columnar structures with regular stacks of cations and anions. For crystal 1, a magnetic transition was observed at ∼120 K; furthermore, its magnetic behavior was consistent with that of a regular Heisenberg antiferromagnetic (AFM) chain of S = 1/2 in the high-temperature phase (HT phase) and that of a spin-gap system in the low-temperature phase (LT phase). Such a phenomenon is similar to the spin-Peierls transition. However, the crystal structure of 1 in the LT phase at 100 K revealed that its structural transition is associated with the magnetic transition. Because crystal 2 (S = 0) did not exhibit a structural transition, the structural transition of 1 is driven by spin-lattice interaction.