Magnesium sulfide reacts with oxygen to form the corresponding sulfate, magnesium sulfate. MgS reacts with water to give hydrogen sulfide and magnesium hydroxide. In the BOS steelmaking process, sulfur is the first element to be removed. Sulfur is removed from the impure blast furnace iron by the addition of several hundred kilograms of magnesium powder by a lance. Magnesium sulfide is formed, which then floats on the molten iron and is removed. MgS is a wide band-gap direct semiconductor of interest as a blue-green emitter, a property that has been known since the early 1900s. The wide-band gap property also allows the
Magnesium perchlorate Magnesium perchlorate Magnesium perchlorate is a powerful oxidizing agent, with the formula Mg(ClO). It is also a superior drying agent for gas analysis. Magnesium perchlorate decomposes at 250 °C. The heat of formation is -568.90 kJ mol. The enthalpy of solution is quite high, so reactions are done in large amounts of water to dilute it. It is sold under the trade name anhydrone. Manufacture of this product on a semi-industrial scale was first performed by G. Frederick Smith in his garage in Urbana Illinois, but later at a permanent facility in Columbus, OH called G. Frederick Smith Chemical Co.