Since the first synthesis of KMnO4 using pyrolusite mineral and potassium carbonate, the experimental synthesis of manganese oxide nanostructures and their application to multiple scientific disciplines have been undertaken extensively. In this review, potassium permanganate raw materials were shown to be more effective and versatile than other addition materials; therefore, they have been widely used to synthesize a variety of manganese oxide nanomaterials, including manganese dioxides, trioxides, tetraoxides, oxyhydroxides and metal-incorporated oxide nanomaterials. Recent progress focused on the synthesis and analysis of the novel characteristics of Mn-oxide nanostructures, emphasizing critical experiments to determine the chemical and physical parameters and the interplay between synthetic conditions and nanoscale morphologies. The Crystal Maker Demo program was applied to estimate the anisotropic transformations from KMnO4 to Mn-oxide nanomaterials.