A novel manganese coordination polymer [Mn(Pht)(H2O)](n) as a precursor was obtained by chemical precipitation involving an aqueous solution of anhydrous manganese acetate and phthalate anion as a potential O-banded ligand. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) results proved that phthalate anions coordinate to metal cations as a chelating bidentate ligand, making polymeric structure. The Mn2O3 nanostructures have been prepared via thermal decomposition of as-prepared manganese phthalate polymers as precursor in the presence of oleic acid (OA) and triphenylphosphine (TPP) as a stabilizer and capping. Different approaches such as FT-IR, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electronmicroscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were applied to characterize the products. TEM images and XRD analysis indicated that the as-synthesized chain-like Mn2O3 has a crystal phase of cubic syngony with a mean size of similar to 40 nm. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.