Copper(II) chlorate heated, giving off a yellow gas, which contains chlorine, oxygen and chlorine dioxide. A green solid is left that is a basic copper salt. Sulfur is highly reactive with copper chlorate, and it is important not to cross contaminate these chemicals, for example in pyrotechnic making. François-Marie Chertier used tetrammine copper chlorate to colour flames blue in 1843. This material was abbreviated TACC with formula Cu(NH)(ClO). TACC explodes on impact. The substance became known as Chertier'c copper for use in blue coloured pyrotechnics. However its deliquescence causes a problem. Mixtures with other metal salts can yield violet or lilac colours
Chlorate also utilize chlorate as a terminal electron acceptor. It should be clearly stated, that currently no chlorate-dominant minerals are known. This means that the chlorate anion exists only as a substitution in the known mineral species, or – eventually – is present in the pore-filling solutions. In 2011, a study of the Georgia Institute of technology unveils the presence of magnesium chlorate on the planet Mars. Examples of chlorates include If a Roman numeral in brackets follows the word "chlorate", this indicates the oxyanion contains chlorine in the indicated oxidation state, namely: Using this convention, "chlorate" means "any" chlorine oxyanion.