Direct identification of Ac and No molecules with an atom-at-a-time technique

The periodic table provides an intuitive framework for understanding chemical properties. However, its traditional patterns may break down for the heaviest elements occupying the bottom of the chart. The large nuclei of actinides (Z > 88) and superheavy elements (Z ≥ 104) give rise to relativistic effects that are expected to substantially alter their chemical behaviours, potentially indicating that we have reached the end of a predictive periodic table¹. Relativistic effects have already been cited for the unusual chemistry of the actinides compared with those of their lanthanide counterparts². Unfortunately, it is difficult to understand the full impact of relativistic effects, as research on the later actinides and superheavy elements is scarce. Beyond fermium (Z = 100), elements need to be produced and studied one atom at a time, using accelerated ion beams and state-of-the-art experimental approaches. So far, no experiments have been capable of directly identifying produced molecular species. Here ions of actinium (Ac, Z = 89) and nobelium (No, Z = 102) were synthesized through nuclear reactions at the 88-Inch Cyclotron facility at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and then exposed to trace amounts of H₂O and N₂. The produced molecular species were directly identified by measuring their mass-to-charge ratios using FIONA (For the Identification Of Nuclide A)³. These results mark the first, to our knowledge, direct identification of heavy-element molecular species using an atom-at-a-time technique and highlight the importance of such identifications in future superheavy-element chemistry experiments to deepen understanding of their chemical properties.