A novel manganese complex Mn-2(DAT)(2)Cl-4(H2O)(4), where DAT is 1,5-diaminotetrazole, was synthesized by the reaction of manganese(II) chloride tetrahydrate and 1,5-diaminotetrazole (DAT) in ethanol, and characterized by elemental analysis. FT-IR spectroscopy. The crystal structure was determined through X-ray single crystal diffraction. The molecular unit of Mn-2(DAT)(2)Cl-4(H2O)(4) has a distorted octahedral structure, containing two central manganese cations, which coordinated by a mono-dentate terminal chloride, a bulky DAT ligand and two water molecules, and linked by two bidentate bridging chloride ligands. There are two main exothermic peaks and one endothermic peak in the thermal decomposition process, investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), the final residue of the title compound at 600 degrees C is MnO. The kinetic parameters of the endothermic process and two main exothermic processes were studied by applying the Kissinger's and Ozawa-Doyle's methods. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.