Scientists have observed the heaviest atoms participating in chemical reactions and forming molecules. This groundbreaking discovery could potentially reshape the periodic table, advancing “super heavy” chemistry, which encompasses large-scale radioactive elements.

Some rare chemical elements are challenging to study, complicating their placement in the periodic table. For instance, the radioactive element copernicium is situated among transition metals but behaves like elements from various groups.

This challenge also affects the lower elements of the table. Heavy radioactive atoms known as actinides can be examined by Jennifer Pore at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California. To better understand the properties of actinides, she and her team initiated a chemical reaction to produce a molecule featuring Nobelium, the heaviest actinide and element 102.

The researchers employed a particle accelerator to bombard highly energetic calcium atom beams into lead clusters. The collision resulted in the formation of Nobelium atoms, which subsequently reacted with nitrogen and water molecules present in the air. A swiftly operating detector, akin to a mass spectrometer, more accurately identified the resulting molecules than any prior chemical attempts.

Next, the team replicated the experiment using thorium instead of lead, creating an actinide called actinium (element 89). By comparing the reactions of actinium and nobelium, the researchers confirmed that these two elements behave similarly as they reside in the same column of the periodic table.

Nobelium not only has a rightful place in the periodic table, but it has also become the heaviest element directly observed forming new molecules. However, the heaviest element ever synthesized remains Oganesson, element 118. The techniques used to synthesize molecules containing nobelium and accurately identify them may open new avenues in research.

According to Sofia Heinz from the GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research in Germany, this new experiment marks a significant technological leap in hyperheavy chemistry. Although molecules containing elements heavier than nobelium have been synthesized in the past, researchers were unable to directly identify them. “Being able to study a single molecule directly is a key advancement,” she states.

Peter Schwerdtfeger from Massey University in New Zealand remarked that this novel experiment “opens the door for future experiments involving a diverse range of superheavy elements.”

Even prior to conducting new experiments, the findings have already made an impact. Pore and her researchers originally believed that additional molecules were needed to facilitate reactions with actinium and nobelium. However, unexpectedly, the superheavy element reacted with substances already present. Anastasia Bolshevski at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands suggested that this could prompt scientists to reevaluate past experimental data that assumed they were examining single atoms. “This will keep theorists busy for some time,” Schwerdtfeger adds.

For Pore, the next hurdle involves studying even heavier elements like dubnium, which is element 105. To accomplish this, teams may need to accelerate the procedures to accommodate the heavier elements.

“If all goes well, I aim to explore larger elements at the end of the periodic table. We have yet to explore their heaviness limits with this methodology,” Pore remarks. Unlike nobelium, some of these larger elements may require a new positioning within the standard table.