A new quaternary layered transition-metal oxide, Na2Cu2TeO6, has been synthesized under air using stoichiometric (with respect to the cationic elements) mixtures of Na2CO3, CuO, and TeO2. Na2Cu2TeO6 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group C2/m with a = 5.7059(6) A, b = 8.6751(9) A, c = 5.9380(6) A, beta = 113.740(2) degrees, V = 269.05(5) A3, and Z = 2, as determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The structure is composed of infinity(2)[Cu2TeO6] layers with the Na atoms located in the octahedral voids between the layers. Na2Cu2TeO6 is a green nonmetallic compound, in agreement with the electronic structure calculation and electrical resistance measurement. The magnetic susceptibility shows Curie-Weiss behavior between 300 and 600 K with an effective moment of 1.85(2) muB/Cu(II) and theta(c) = -87(6) K. A broad maximum at 160 K is interpreted as arising from short-range one-dimensional antiferromagnetic correlations. With the aid of the technique of magnetic dimers, the short-range order was analyzed in terms of an alternating chain model, with the surprising result that the stronger intrachain coupling involves a super-superexchange pathway with a Cu-Cu separation of >5 A. The J2/J1 ratio within the alternating chain refined to 0.10(1), and the spin gap is estimated to be 127 K.

The magnetic properties of BiCu 2 PO 6 have been analyzed by means of magnetic-susceptibility and inelastic neutron-scattering measurements on powder samples by evaluating the spin-exchange interactions on the basis of density-functional calculations and by simulating the inelastic neutron scattering in terms of spin-exchange parameters. BiCu 2 PO 6 exhibits magnetic properties described by the two-leg spin ladder with strong spin frustration along each leg chain and has a gapped quantum singlet ground state with excited magnetic states, showing an incommensurate dispersion arising from frustration.