It is photosensitive, contributes a pale violet colour to compounds and solutions containing it and is one of the strongest water-stable oxidizing species known.

Although it is classified as a weak base, concentrated solutions containing ferrate(VI) are corrosive and attack the skin and are only stable at high pH.

[1] Ferrate(VI) salts are formed by oxidizing iron in an aqueous medium with strong oxidizing agents under alkaline conditions, or in the solid state by heating a mixture of iron filings and powdered potassium nitrate.

[5] Aqueous solutions of ferrates are pink when dilute, and deep red or purple at higher concentrations.

[9] They are also of interest as potential as an environmentally friendly water treatment chemical, as the byproduct of ferrate oxidation is the relatively benign iron(III).