Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have prepared an organometallic complex from 0.3 milligrams of berkelium-249.
Organometallic molecules consist of a metal ion surrounded by a carbon-based framework. They are relatively common for early actinide elements like uranium but are scarcely known for later actinides. Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have now prepared an organometallic complex from 0.3 milligrams of berkelium-249. Berkelium, one of 15 actinides in the periodic table's f-block, was discovered by the pioneering nuclear chemist Glenn Seaborg in 1949. But this heavy element is not easy to study because it is highly radioactive; and only very minute amounts are produced globally every year. "This is the first time that evidence for the formation of a chemical bond between berkelium and carbon has been obtained," said Dr. Stefan Minasian, a scientist at Berkeley Lab. "The discovery provides new understanding of how berkelium and other actinides behave relative to their peers in the periodic table." "Only a few facilities around the world can…