Oxygen-17 is a low abundant isotope of oxygen

Isotopes of oxygen

There are three stable isotopes of oxygen that lead to oxygen having a standard atomic mass of 15.9994 u. 17 radioactive isotopes have also been characterized, with mass numbers from 12O to 28O, all short-lived, with the longest-lived being 15O with a half-life of 122.24 seconds...

 (0.0373% in seawater; approx. twice as abundant as Deuterium

Deuterium

Deuterium, also called heavy hydrogen, is one of two stable isotopes of hydrogen. It has a natural abundance in Earth's oceans of about one atom in of hydrogen . Deuterium accounts for approximately 0.0156% of all naturally occurring hydrogen in Earth's oceans, while the most common isotope ...

). Being the only stable isotope of oxygen possessing a nuclear spin

Spin (physics)

In quantum mechanics and particle physics, spin is a fundamental characteristic property of elementary particles, composite particles , and atomic nuclei.It is worth noting that the intrinsic property of subatomic particles called spin and discussed in this article, is related in some small ways,...

 and the unique characteristic of field-independent relaxation

Relaxation (NMR)

In nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and magnetic resonance imaging the term relaxation describes several processes by which nuclear magnetization prepared in a non-equilibrium state return to the equilibrium distribution. In other words, relaxation describes how fast spins "forget" the...

 it enables NMR studies

Nuclear magnetic resonance

Nuclear magnetic resonance is a physical phenomenon in which magnetic nuclei in a magnetic field absorb and re-emit electromagnetic radiation...

 of metabolic pathways of compounds incorporating oxygen

Oxygen

Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...

 at high magnetic fields (i.e. metabolic H₂¹⁷O water produced by oxidative phosphorylation

Oxidative phosphorylation

Oxidative phosphorylation is a metabolic pathway that uses energy released by the oxidation of nutrients to produce adenosine triphosphate . Although the many forms of life on earth use a range of different nutrients, almost all aerobic organisms carry out oxidative phosphorylation to produce ATP,...

 in mitochondria

Mitochondrion

In cell biology, a mitochondrion is a membrane-enclosed organelle found in most eukaryotic cells. These organelles range from 0.5 to 1.0 micrometers in diameter...

).

History

The isotope was first hypothesized and subsequently imaged by Patrick Blackett

Patrick Blackett, Baron Blackett

Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett, Baron Blackett OM CH FRS was an English experimental physicist known for his work on cloud chambers, cosmic rays, and paleomagnetism. He also made a major contribution in World War II advising on military strategy and developing Operational Research...

 in Rutherford's lab 1924:



It was a product out of the first man-made transmutation

Nuclear transmutation

Nuclear transmutation is the conversion of one chemical element or isotope into another. In other words, atoms of one element can be changed into atoms of other element by 'transmutation'...

 of ¹⁴N and ⁴He²⁺ conducted by Frederick Soddy

Frederick Soddy

Frederick Soddy was an English radiochemist who explained, with Ernest Rutherford, that radioactivity is due to the transmutation of elements, now known to involve nuclear reactions. He also proved the existence of isotopes of certain radioactive elements...

 and Ernest Rutherford

Ernest Rutherford

Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson OM, FRS was a New Zealand-born British chemist and physicist who became known as the father of nuclear physics...

 in 1917-1919. Finally its natural abundance in earth atmosphere was detected in 1929 by Giauque

William Giauque

William Francis Giauque was an American chemist and Nobel laureate recognised in 1949 for his studies in the properties of matter at temperatures close to absolute zero...

and Johnson in absorption spectra.

Characteristics

• Excess mass: -809 keV
• Possible parent nuclides: β from ¹⁷N, electron capture from ¹⁷F