Hybrid
ferroelastic crystals have emerged as a hot research topic
in recent years owing to their prospective applications in piezoelectric
sensors, mechanical switches, and optoelectronic devices. Nevertheless,
most of the documented materials exhibit one-step or two-step ferroelastic
phase transition(s), and those with multistep ferroelastic transitions
are extremely scarce. We present a new hexagonal molecular perovskite
based on a fluoro-substituted flexible cyclic ammonium cation, (1-fluoromethyl-1-methylpyrrolidine)[CdCl3] (1), undergoing unusual three-step ferroelastic
phase transitions from hexagonal paraelastic phase to orthorhombic,
monoclinic, and triclinic ferroelastic phases at 388, 376, and 311
K, respectively, with Aizu notation of 6/mmmFmmm, mmmF2/m, and 2/mF-1, featuring spontaneous strain of 0.002, 0.023, and
0.110, respectively. Furthermore, variable-temperature single-crystal
diffraction reveals that the phase-transition mechanism in 1 principally originates from intriguing dynamic change of organic
cations and synchronous displacement of inorganic chains. This scarce
instance of multistep hybrid ferroelastic provides important clues
for finding advanced ferroelastic materials.