1987/05/01 by Earl K. Hyde, Darleane C. Hoffman, O. Keller · 18 citations
Chemistry · #History and advancements in chemistry
paper · doi:10.1524/ract.1987.42.2.57
openalex publication_date 1987/05/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Although the scientific literature now includes information on ten isotopes of element 104 and 6 isotopes of element 105 as well as on the chemical properties of these two elements, no official ruling has been made by any international body concerning their names nor the assignment of credit for discovery.A controversy has developed between research teams at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, an international laboratory at Dubna in the Soviet Union, and research teams at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in the USA concerning the right to be recognized as the discoverers of elements 104 and 105.80th institutions have major facilities including nuclear particle accelerators which were used to synthesize isotopes of the new elements by bombardment of heavy element targets with heavy ions.This paper reviews the experimental studies carried out at both laboratories during the 1960-1977 period and makes a critical assessment of the physical and chemical evidence relating to the synthesis of elements 104 and 105 and the claims based upon that evidence.Work done at several other institutions is cited when it is pertinent to the claims made by the research groups at Dubna or Berkeley.The authors then present their conclusions regarding the claims of the two laboratories to priority in the discovery of elements 104 and 105 and the right to name these elements.iv OUTLINE I. V~ Chemical Identification on a One-atom-at-a-time ll Basis VI.