In solution, the salt dissociates to give the ferrioxalate anion, [Fe(C2O4)3]3−, which appears fluorescent green in color.

In accordance with the IUPAC convention, the isomer with the left-handed screw axis is assigned the Greek symbol Λ (lambda).

[6] The ferrioxalate anion is sensitive to light and to high-energy electromagnetic radiation, including X-rays and gamma rays.

[7][8] The synthesis and thermal decomposition of potassium ferrioxalate is a popular exercise for high school, college or undergraduate university students, since it involves the chemistry of transition metal complexes, visually observable photochemistry, and thermogravimetry.

[9] Before the ready availability of wide ink-jet and laser printers, large-size engineering drawings were commonly reproduced by the cyanotype method.

That was a simple contact-based photographic process that produced a "negative" white-on-blue copy of the original drawing—a blueprint.