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 white magnesia alba (magnesium oxide), which provided the name magnesium for the free element when it was isolated much later. Several colorful oxides of manganese, for example manganese dioxide, are abundant in nature and have been used as pigments since the Stone Age. The cave paintings in Gargas that are 30,000 to 24,000 years old contain manganese pigments. Manganese compounds were used by Egyptian and Roman glassmakers, either to add to, or remove color from glass. Use as "glassmakers soap" continued through the Middle Ages until modern times and is evident in 14th-century glass from Venice. Because it was used