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).