Actinide
The actinide series encompasses the 15
chemical elements that lie between actinium and lawrencium on the periodic table with atomic numbers 89 - 103. The actinide series is named after actinium. All actinides are f-block elements except lawrencium. There are also alternative arrangements which do not include either actinium or lawrencium in the actinide series. The actanide series together with the lanthanide series comprise the
rare earth elements.
The actinides display less similarity in their chemical properties than the lanthanide series, for instance exhibiting a wider range of oxidation states, which initially led to confusion as to whether actinium, thorium and uranium should be considered d-block elements.
Encyclopedia
| Atomic No. | Name | Symbol |
|---|
| 89 | Actinium | Ac |
| 90 | Thorium | Th |
| 91 | Protactinium | Pa |
| 92 | Uranium | U |
| 93 | Neptunium | Np |
| 94 | Plutonium | Pu |
| 95 | Americium | Am |
| 96 | Curium | Cm |
| 97 | Berkelium | Bk |
| 98 | Californium | Cf |
| 99 | Einsteinium | Es |
| 100 | Fermium | Fm |
| 101 | Mendelevium | Md |
| 102 | Nobelium | No |
| 103 | Lawrencium | Lr |
The
actinide series encompasses the 15
chemical elements that lie between actinium and lawrencium on the periodic table with atomic numbers 89 - 103. The actinide series is named after actinium. All actinides are f-block elements except lawrencium. There are also alternative arrangements which do not include either actinium or lawrencium in the actinide series. The actanide series together with the lanthanide series comprise the
rare earth elements.
The actinides display less similarity in their chemical properties than the lanthanide series, for instance exhibiting a wider range of oxidation states, which initially led to confusion as to whether actinium, thorium and uranium should be considered d-block elements. All actinides are radioactive.
Only actinium, thorium and uranium occur naturally in the earth's crust. The remaining actinides were synthesized in the 20th century by techniques such as neutron bombardment. The latter half of the series possess exceedingly short half-lives.
The actinides are typically placed below the main body of the periodic table, in the manner of a footnote. The full-width version of the periodic table shows the position of the actinides more clearly.
An
Organometallic compound of an actinide is known as an
organoactinide.
Note that the
International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry are currently recommending the name
actinoid rather than actinide, as the suffix "-ide" is generally used to indicate anions.
History of the actinide series
During his
Manhattan Project research in 1944,
Glenn T. Seaborg experienced unexpected difficulty isolating Americium and Curium . He began wondering if these elements more properly belonged to a different series which would explain why the expected chemical properties of the new elements were different. In 1945, he went against the advice of colleagues and proposed the most significant change to Mendeleev's periodic table to have been accepted universally by the scientific community: the actinide series.
In 1945, Seaborg published his 'actinide concept' of heavy element electronic structure, predicting that the actinides would form a transition series analogous to the rare earth series of lanthanide elements.
References
