Crystal Structures and Thermal Properties of L-MnC4H4O6•2H2O and DL-MnC4H4O6•2H2O

Manganese L-tartrate dihydrate, L-MnC4H4O6·2H2O, and manganese DL-tartrate dihydrate, DL-MnC4H4O6·2H2O, crystals were grown at room temperature by the gel method using silica gels as the growth medium. Differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis, and X-ray diffraction measurements were performed on both crystals. The space group symmetries (monoclinic P21 and P2/c) and structural parameters of the crystals were determined at room temperature. Both structures consisted of slightly distorted MnO6 octahedra, C4H4O6 and H2O molecules, and O-H···O hydrogen-bonding frameworks between adjacent molecules. Weight losses due to thermal decomposition of the crystals were found to occur in the temperature range of 300-1150 K. We inferred that the weight losses were caused by the evaporation of bound 2H2O molecules, and the evolutions of gases from C4H4O4 and of (1/2)O2 gas from MnO2, and that the residual black substance left in the vessels after decomposition was manganese oxide (MnO).