Manganese Manganese Manganese is a chemical element with symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is not found as a free element in nature; it is often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a metal with important industrial metal alloy uses, particularly in stainless steels. Historically, manganese is named for pyrolusite and other black minerals from the region of Magnesia in Greece, which also gave its name to magnesium and the iron ore magnetite. By the mid-18th century, Swedish-German chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele had used pyrolusite to produce chlorine. Scheele and others were aware that pyrolusite (now known
Manganese(II) chloride Manganese(II) chloride Manganese(II) chloride describes a series of compounds with the formula MnCl(HO), where the value of x can be 0, 2, or 4. The tetrahydrate is the most common form of "manganese(II) chloride" and is the tetrahydrate with the formula MnCl·4HO. The anhydrous form and a dihydrate MnCl·2HO are also known. Like many Mn(II) species, these salts are pink, with the paleness of the color being characteristic of transition metal complexes with high spin d configurations. Manganese chloride is produced by treating manganese(IV) oxide with concentrated hydrochloric acid. This reaction was once used for the manufacture of chlorine. By