cesium permanganate is an inorganic compound containing two sulfate ions. It is a colorless or grayish solid that dissolves very easily in water. It is commonly used in chemical research for preparing metal complexes, for example in studies of electrochemistry and catalysis. The compound is also a reagent for extracting cesium metal from other compounds and is useful in the preparation of cesium-containing alloys, such as the nickel-manganese-cobalt/graphite battery electrode.

In one embodiment of the present invention, cesium alum is converted to cesium permanganate by an aqueous conversion and precipitation reaction using a critical stoichiometric excess of a water-soluble permanganate salt. The preferred reagent is potassium permanganate (KMnO4) since it is readily available and less expensive than other alkaline metal permanganates such as calcium or barium. However, any water-soluble permanganate salt may be employed as long as it does not form an insoluble percipitate with sulfate at the final pH of the solution.

During the conversion reaction, most of the cesium in the alum is converted to cesium permanganate as a crystalline precipitate. The remainder remains in solution as a supernatant. The crystalline cesium permanganate precipitate can be separated from the solution and dried to obtain the desired solid.

The crystalline cesium permanganate can be further processed to prepare other commercially desirable cesium compounds, such as cesium carbonate and cesium delta manganese dioxide. In these further processing steps, the aqueous solution at the end of the key reaction is reacted with a permanganate reducing agent to obtain cesium carbonate solution and cesium delta manganese dioxide as a separate precipitate.