Using dc magnetization, ac susceptibility, specific heat, and neutron diffraction, we have studiedthe magnetic properties of Mn[N(CN)
2]
2(pyz) {pyz = pyrazine} in detail. The material crystallizes in themonoclinic space group
P2
1/
n with
a = 7.3248(2),
b = 16.7369(4), and
c = 8.7905 (2) Å,
= 89.596 (2)
,
V = 1077.65(7) Å
3, and
Z = 4, as determined by Rietveld refinement of neutron powder diffraction data at1.35 K. The 5 K neutron powder diffraction data reflect very little variation in the crystal structure.Interpenetrating ReO
3-like networks are formed from axially elongated Mn
2+ octahedra and edges made up of
-bonded [N(CN)
2]
- anions and neutral pyz ligands. A three-dimensional antiferromagnetic ordering occursbelow
TN = 2.53(2) K. The magnetic unit cell is double the nuclear one along the
a- and
c-axes, giving the(
1/
2, 0,
1/
2) superstructure. The crystallographic and antiferromagnetic structures are commensurate and consistof collinear Mn
2+ moments, each with a magnitude of 4.15(6)
B aligned parallel to the
a-direction (Mn-pyz-Mn chains). Electronic structure calculations indicate that the exchange interaction is much strongeralong the Mn-pyz-Mn chain axis than along the Mn-NCNCN-Mn axes by a factor of approximately 40,giving rise to a predominantly one-dimensional magnetic system. Thus, the variable-temperature magneticsusceptibility data are well described by a Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chain model, giving
g = 2.01(1) and
J/
kB = -0.27(1) K. Owing to single-ion anisotropy of the Mn
2+ ion, field-induced phenomena ascribed tospin-flop and paramagnetic transitions are observed at 0.43 and 2.83 T, respectively.