Magnesium perchlorate is a powerful oxidizing agent, with the formula Mg(ClO4)2.

[3] The enthalpy of solution is quite high, so reactions are done in large amounts of water to dilute it.

Manufacture of this product on a semi-industrial scale was first performed by G. Frederick Smith in his garage in Urbana Illinois, but later at a permanent facility in Columbus, OH called G. Frederick Smith Chemical Co.

[7] Being a drying agent, magnesium perchlorate retains water from the atmosphere and may release it when conditions are favorable and temperature is above 273 K. Briny solutions that contain salts such as magnesium perchlorate have a lower melting point than that of pure water.

Therefore the abundance of magnesium and other perchlorate salts on Mars could support the theory that liquid aqueous solutions might exist on or below the surface, where temperature and pressure conditions would ordinarily cause the water to freeze.