Preparation and characterization by X-ray analysis and H-2 NMR spectra have been described for twelve chromium(III)-nitroxide complexes of cis-[Cr(acac)(2)Cl(L)] and cis- and trans-[Cr(acac)(2)(L)(2)]PF6 with monodentate coordination through the pyridyl-N atom in the nitroxides, where acac=pentane-2,4-dionate and L=4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-2-(3- or 4-pyridyl)imidazolin-1-oxyl 3-oxide (NIT3py or NIT4py) and 4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-2-(3- or 4-pyridyl)imidazolin-1-oxyl (IM3py or IM4py). An intramolecular magnetic interaction between Cr-III and the nitroxide was found to be weakly antiferrromagnetic and ferromagnetic, respectively, in the NIT3py or IM3py complexes and the NIT4py or IM4py complexes. The difference in sign of these magnetic interaction constants between the 3- and 4-pyridyl-substituted nitroxides can be interpreted by a spin polarization mechanism for the pi-electron system including the nitroxide SOMO pi* and Cr-III d(pi) orbitals. The inherently weak magnetic interactions and absence of an intensity enhancement of the spin-forbidden d-d transition band in these nitroxides complexes are in contrast to our previous results for the chelated NIT2py [4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-2-(2-pyridyl)imidazolin-1-oxyl 3-oxide] and IM2py [4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-2-(2-pyridyl)imidazolin-1-oxyl] complexes. This may be accounted for by the difference in the mechanism of magnetic interactions; spin-polarization mechanism and exchange mechanism, respectively.