History

Element 114 was reported in January 1999 by scientists at Dubna (Joint Institute for Nuclear Research) in Russia by using isotopes supplied by scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA. Only one atom was identified and the claim has not yet been ratified. The results of calculations suggest that element 114 will not form a tetrafluoride UuqF₄, but could be isolated as a water-soluble difluoride UuqF₂.

Properties

presumably a solid at 298 K

Color: unknown, but probably metallic and silvery white or grey in appearance

Classification: Metallic

CAS Registry ID: 54085-16-4

Isolation

Here is a summary of the isolation of ununquadium.

Currently, the identification of element 114 is yet to be confirmed. As only about three atoms of element 114 has ever been made (through nuclear reaction involving fusing a calcium atom with a plutonium atom) isolation of an observable quantity has never been achieved, and may well never be.

²⁴⁴₉₄Pu + ⁴⁸₂₀Ca --> ²⁸⁹₁₁₄Uuq + 3 ¹n

²⁴⁴₉₄Pu + ⁴⁸₂₀Ca --> ²⁸⁸₁₁₄Uuq + 4 ¹n

The element decomposes through the emission of an a-particle to form element 112 with a half life of about 30 seconds for ²⁸⁹₁₁₄Uuq and 2 seconds for ²⁸⁸₁₁₄Uuq.

A different isotope of element 114, ²⁸⁵₁₁₄Uuq, is observed as a decomposition product of the recently observed element 118. Elements 118 and 116 were identified by accelerating a beam of krypton-86 (⁸⁶₃₆Kr) ions to an energy of 449 million electron volts and directing the beam onto targets of lead-208 (²⁰⁸₈₂Pb). After 11 days work, just three atoms of the new element were identified. The production rates for element 118 are approximately one in every 10¹² interactions.

²⁰⁸₈₂Pb + ⁸⁶₃₆Kr --> ²⁹³₁₁₈Uuo + ¹n

Element 118 nucleus decays less than a millisecond after its formation by emitting an a-particle. This results in an isotope of element 116 (mass number 289, containing 116 protons and 173 neutrons). This isotope of element 116, is also radioactive and undergoes further a-decay processes to an isotope of element 114 and so on down to at least element 106.

²⁹³₁₁₈Uuo --> ²⁸⁹₁₁₆Uuh + ⁴₂He (0.12 milliseconds)

²⁸⁹₁₁₆Uuh --> ²⁸⁵₁₁₄Uuq + ⁴₂He (0.60 milliseconds)

²⁸⁵₁₁₄Uuq --> ²⁸¹₁₁₂Uub + ⁴₂He (0.58 milliseconds)

²⁸¹₁₁₂Uub --> ²⁷⁷₁₁₀Uun + ⁴₂He (0.89 milliseconds)

²⁷⁷₁₁₀Uun --> ²⁷³₁₀₈Hs + ⁴₂He (3 milliseconds)

²⁷³₁₀₈Hs --> ²⁶⁹₁₀₆Sg + ⁴₂He (1200 milliseconds)