Manganese(II) sulfate Manganese(II) sulfate Manganese(II) sulfate usually refers to the inorganic compound with the formula MnSO·HO. This pale pink deliquescent solid is a commercially significant manganese(II) salt. Approximately 260 thousand tonnes of manganese(II) sulfate were produced worldwide in 2005. It is the precursor to manganese metal and many other chemical compounds. Mn-deficient soil is remediated with this salt. Like many metal sulfates, manganese sulfate forms a variety of hydrates: monohydrate, tetrahydrate, pentahydrate, and heptahydrate. The monohydrate is most common. All of these salts dissolve to give faintly pink solutions of the aquo complex [Mn(HO)]. The pale pink colour of Mn(II) salts is
Manganese function as cofactors for a large variety of enzymes with many functions. Manganese enzymes are particularly essential in detoxification of superoxide free radicals in organisms that must deal with elemental oxygen. Manganese also functions in the oxygen-evolving complex of photosynthetic plants. While the element is a required trace mineral for all known living organisms, it also acts as a neurotoxin in larger amounts. Especially through inhalation, it can cause manganism, a condition in mammals leading to neurological damage that is sometimes irreversible. Manganese is a silvery-gray metal that resembles iron. It is hard and very brittle, difficult to fuse, but