Extraction Chromatographic Behavior of Rf, Zr, and Hf in HCl Solution with Styrenedivinylbenzene Copolymer Resin Modified by TOPO (trioctylphosphine oxide)

It is of great interest to study chemical properties of the transactinide elements with atomic numbers (Z) ≥ 104. One of the most important subjects is to establish the position of the elements at the extreme end of the periodic table. To this end we perform studies of chemical properties of these transactinides and compare them with those of their lighter homologues and with the ones expected from extrapolations in the periodic table. So far, chromatographic studies of the transactinides have provided experimental proof of placing rutherfordium (Rf, Z = 104) through hassium (Hs, Z = 108) into groups 4 to 8, respectively. 1-10 Quite recently, copernicium (Cn, Z = 112) has been shown to be a member of group 12. 11 To gain a better understanding, it is even more interesting to study chemical properties of the transactinide elements in greater detail and to compare those with the ones of their lighter homologues. Theoretical calculations predict that the ground state electronic structure of the heaviest elements varies due to strong relativistic effects. Accordingly, chemical properties of these elements may deviate from those expected from linear extrapolations based on lighter homologues. 12-14 Systematically, detailed chemical investigations are, therefore, required to characterize properties of the transactinide elements influenced by relativistic effects.