The document discusses the actinide series of elements in the periodic table. It covers the properties and uses of actinium, thorium, protactinium, uranium, neptunium, plutonium, americium, and later actinides like curium. The actinide series includes radioactive elements with atomic numbers from 89 to 103. They have similar chemical properties and most exhibit oxidation states of +3 and +4. Many actinides are used as nuclear fuel or in specialized detection devices.

1. INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
ACTINIDE SERIES OF PERIODIC TABLE
Presented by :
Pujiati (06121010018)
Binti Uswatin (06121010021)
Chemistry Education Department
Sriwijaya University
Indralaya
2012

2. Actinide series
Atom number 89-103

3. 89 Actinium (Ac)
90 Thorium (Th)
91 Protactinium
(Pa)
92 Uranium (U)
93 Neptunium
(Np)
94 Plutonium (Pu)
95 Americium
(Am)
96 Curium (Cm)
97 Berkelium (Bk)
98 Californium (Cf)
99 Einsteinium (Es)
100 Fermium (Fm)
101 Mendelevium
(Md)
102 Nobelium (No)
103 Lawrencium (Lr)
All of them are
radioactive

4. ACTINIUM
• Its chemistry is dominated by (+3) O. S.
• Its compounds are colorless.
• There are 36 known isotopes.
• 227Ac is strongly radioactive and so are its decay components.
• Actinium metal is silvery solid; obtained by reduction of oxide,
fluoride or chloride w/ Group 1 metals; and oxidized rapidly in
moist air.
• It forms insoluble fluoride and oxalate (Ac2(C2O4)3.10H2O)
compounds
• Actinium is found in uranium ores

5. USES OF ACTINIUM
• Actinium’s high activity level makes it valuable in producing
neutrons. There has been some work done to use 225Ac in treating
cancer patients
• There are no practical commercial uses of actinium. Actinium of
98 percent purity is prepared for research studies.

6. HEALTH EFFECTS OF ACTINIUM
Like all radioactive materials, actinium is a health hazard. If
taken into the body, it tends to be deposited in the bones, where
the energy it emits damages or destroys cells. Radiation is
known to cause bone cancer and other disorders.

7. THORIUM
• It exhibits the +4 O.S. exclusively.
• The chemistry in the +2 and +3 O.S. is restricted to iodides like
ThI2 and cyclopentadienyl Th(C5H5)3.
• It has wide coordination chemistry with oxygen donor ligands.
• Thorium metal is bright and silvery-white and tarnishes to a dull
black color when exposed to air. It is soft enough to be scratched
with a knife and melts at 1750°. It slowly dissolves in dilute with
hydrogen evolution and can be pyrophoric as a powder.
• Thorium is weakly radioactive: all its known isotopes are
unstable

8. USES OF THORIUM
Thorium is predicted to be able to replace uranium as nuclear
fuel in nuclear reactors but no thorium reactors have yet been
completed.

9. PROTACTINIU
M
• It has been in existence longer than any other actinide.
• 231Pa has a half-life of 3.28*1014 which allows it to make chemical
study easy for it.
• It has α-emission, so it has appropriate radiochemical
precautions.
• The Pa metal is malleable, ductile, silvery, and has a melting
point of about 1565°C. It is also a superconductor.

10. USES OF PROTACTINIUM
Protactinium-231 arises from the decay of uranium-235 formed
in nuclear reactors, and by the reaction 232Th + n → 231Th + 2n and
subsequent beta decay. It may support a nuclear chain reaction,
which could in principle be used to build nuclear weapons.

11. URANIUM
• Many compounds exist between the O.S. of +3 to +6.
• The main O.S. are +4 and +6.
• Stability of O.S.
U3+ reduces to hydrogen
U4+ stable in aqueous solution in the absence of air
U5+ disproportionates rapidly into a mixture of U4+ and U6+ in aqueous solutions
U6+ stable in aqueous solutions
• When pure it has a silvery appearance.
• Reacts readily with hot water to prevent substances from coming into contact in
nuclear reactors

12. USES OF URANIUM
uranium is an element found everywhere on Earth, but mainly in
trace quantities. In 1938, German physicists Otto Hahn and Fritz
Strassmann showed that uranium could be split into parts to
yield energy. Uranium is the principal fuel for nuclear reactors
and the main raw material for nuclear weapons.

13. NEPTUNIUM
• It was the first transuranium element to be discovered in 1940.
• There are 15 known isotopes, only 237Np, w/ half-life of
2.14*106 years, is useful for chemical experiments.
• It exhibits O.S. of +3 to +7 in compounds.
• It is a silvery metal, with a melting point of 637°C and a boiling
point of 4174°C.
• It has surface oxidation when exposed to air.
• It is converted to NpO2 at high temperatures

14. USES OF NEPTUNIUM
• Neptunium and its compounds of neptunium have been made
for research purposes. They are used in specialized detection
devices and in nuclear reactors. Neither the element nor its
compounds have any commercial uses.
• Neptunium is a very hazardous material. It must be handled with
great caution

15. PLUTONIUM
There are 15 known isotopes.
 The masses range from 232 to 246.

The most important isotope is 239Pu because it is fissionable and has a half-life of 24,100
years, which makes it easy for chemists to study.
It exhibits O.S. from +3 to +7.
 The +3 and +4 O.S. are the most important, but compounds of the ions are well defined.
 Pu+7 only exists under very alkaline conditions.
It has 6 allotropic metal forms, which makes it unusual.
 They can form at normal pressure between room temperature and its melting point,
640°C.
 It is dense, silvery and a reactive metal; more reactive than uranium or neptunium.
 When attacked by air, it forms a green-gray oxide coating.
 It reacts slowly with cold water, faster with dilute H2SO4, and dissolves quickly in dilute
hydrochloric acid or hydrobromic acid.

16. USES OF PLUTONIUM
• The most important uses of plutonium depend on two of its
properties. First, the radiation given off by plutonium occurs as
heat. In fact, plutonium gives off so much heat that the metal
feels warm when it is touched. If a large piece of plutonium is
placed into water, the heat released can cause the water to boil.
• Plutonium provides electrical power on space probes and space
vehicles.

17. AMERICIUM
• It has 12 known isotopes.
• It was first made in 1944-1945 by Seaborg and his coworkers, where they
decayed 239Pu and 241Pu to 241Am, which has a half-life of 433 years.
241Am and 243Am, which has a half-life of 7380 years are the most important isotopes,
because their half-lives allow scientists to study their characteristics.
• The metal is a slivery, ductile and very malleable.
It tarnishes in air slowly and dissolves in dilute hydrochloric acid quickly.
It reacts with heating with oxygen, halogens, and other nonmetals

18. USES OF AMERICIUM
The vital ingredient of household smoke detectors is a very small
quantity of Am-241 as americium dioxide (AmO2).

19. LATER ACTINIDES (CM, BK, CF, ES, FM, MD, NO, AND LR)
• Their chemistry is of mostly the M+3 state.
• They all form binary compounds, such as trihalides.
 Oxidized by air to the oxide
 Electropositive
 Reacts with hydrogen on warming to form hydrides
 Yields compounds on warming with group 5 and group 6 non-metals