Potassium Permanganate -- KMnO₄

Potassium permanganate, KMnO₄, is the chapter's second flagship named transition-metal compound, standing alongside potassium dichromate as one of the two most industrially and analytically important compounds developed in full detail in this unit. This introductory section previews the arc that the following five sub-sections develop: the two-stage industrial manufacture of the compound from pyrolusite (manganese dioxide) ore, proceeding via an intermediate potassium manganate stage (4.4.3.1); its physical appearance and solubility behaviour (4.4.3.2); the precise tetrahedral structure of the permanganate ion (4.4.3.3); its rich, medium-dependent oxidising chemistry across neutral, alkaline and acidic conditions, including Baeyer's reagent for detecting unsaturation (4.4.3.4); and finally its everyday and industrial uses, together with …