Manganese(II) nitrate Manganese(II) nitrate Manganese(II) nitrate are the inorganic compounds with formula Mn(NO)(HO). Each formula unit is composed of one Mn cation and two NO anions and varying amounts of water. Most common is the tetrahydrate Mn(NO)·4HO, but mono- and hexahydrates are also known as well as the anhydrous compound. Some of these compounds are useful precursors to the oxides of manganese. Manganese(II) nitrate is prepared by dissolving manganese(II) oxide in nitric acid: It can also be prepared from manganese dioxide and nitrogen dioxide: On heating to 300 °C, aqueous solutions of manganese(II) nitrate thermally decompose to form MnO and NO. Manganese(II)
Manganese large consumer of manganese ores. Scheele and other chemists were aware that manganese dioxide contained a new element, but they were not able to isolate it. Johan Gottlieb Gahn was the first to isolate an impure sample of manganese metal in 1774, by reducing the dioxide with carbon. The manganese content of some iron ores used in Greece led to speculations that steel produced from that ore contains additional manganese, making the Spartan steel exceptionally hard. Around the beginning of the 19th century, manganese was used in steelmaking and several patents were granted. In 1816, it was documented that iron