Starting from a Calogero--Sutherland model with hyperbolic interaction confined by an external field with Morse potential we construct a Heisenberg spin chain with exchange interaction
∝1/sinh2x on a lattice given in terms of the zeroes of Laguerre polynomials. Varying the strength of the Morse potential the Haldane--Shastry and harmonic spin chains are reproduced. The spectrum of the models in this class is found to be that of a classical one-dimensional Ising chain with nonuniform nearest neighbour coupling in a nonuniform magnetic field which allows to study the thermodynamics in the limit of infinite chains.