Seaborgium (Sg)

Seaborgium is a chemical element with the atomic number 106 in the periodic table. It’s a synthetically produced radioactive substance. Hence, it does not occur in any layer of Earth’s crust. 

Assumed to belong to the transition metals group of the periodic table, this transactinoid element is calculated to have a maximum of six valence electrons [Sg(VI)]. Apart from its use in scientific research, element 106 has no other practical use. 

Fact Box

Chemical and Physical Properties of Seaborgium

The symbol in the periodic table of elements: Sg

Atomic number: 106

Atomic weight (mass): 262.94 g.mol-1

Group number: 6 (Transition metals)

Period: 7 (d-block)

Color: N/A

Physical state: Presumably solid at room temperature

Half-life: 3.3(10) milliseconds [2.9(+13−7) milliseconds] to 14 minutes

Electronegativity according to Pauling: Unknown

Density: Unknown

Melting point: Unknown

Boiling point: Unknown

Van der Waals radius: Unknown

Ionic radius: Unknown

Isotopes:

Most characteristic isotope: 271Sg

Electronic shell: [Rn] 7s25f146d4

The energy of the first ionization: N/A

The energy of the second ionization: N/A

Discovery date: In 1974 by Albert Ghiorso and colleagues

Seaborgium is one of the least studied chemical elements because there have been only a few atoms of it produced. This man-made element has the periodic table symbol Sg, atomic number 106, predicted atomic mass of 262.94 g.mol-1, and electron configuration [Rn] 7s25f146d4. According to the chemical calculations, the predicted atomic radius of seaborgium is 128 pm. 

The appearance, as well as both the physical and chemical properties of element 106, are yet to be studied. Based upon the scientific evidence on the element’s chemical properties that have been derived so far, seaborgium could be easily compared to the Group 6 elements of the periodic table:  chromium (Cr), molybdenum (Mo), and tungsten (W). 

All elements of this family are classified as transition (refractory) metals. Due to this, seaborgium is presumably a solid substance at room temperature.   

                    

How Was Seaborgium Discovered?

By bombarding lead-207 and lead-208 with ions of chromium-54 in a cyclotron, a group of researchers at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research at Dubna, Russia, U.S.S.R, led by Georgy N. Flerov produced the first atom of the element 106 – the 259Sg isotope.

Several years later, in 1974, a team of scientists including Glenn T. Seaborg, Carol Alonso and Albert Ghiorso at the University of California, Berkeley, and E. Kenneth Hulet from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, achieved a new success by bombarding atoms of californium-249 with ions of oxygen-18 in a super-heavy ion linear accelerator. This chemical reaction produced the seaborgium-263 isotope with a half-life of about 1 second, and four free neutrons. 

Despite achieving the same result with different methods, and in different times, both teams of discoverers reported their scientific evidence in 1974 and shared the credits on the discovery of a new transuranium element – seaborgium (Sg). 

How Did Seaborgium Get Its Name?

Element 106 was named after the American chemist Glenn T. Seaborg. Seaborg was honored for his work on the isolation of chemical elements that are heavier than uranium has led to the discovery and synthesization of all other transuranium elements of the periodic table. In addition, Seaborg’s actinide concept transformed the periodic table. 

Before ‘seaborgium’ was accepted as the official name of element 106, it has been labeled with the temporary name ‘unnilhexium’, meaning ‘one-zero-six’ in Latin.

Where Can You Find Seaborgium?

There are only a few atoms of this extremely radioactive transuranium element produced in a strictly controlled laboratory environment. For this reason, seaborgium cannot be found anyplace else. 

Seaborgium in Everyday Life

In terms of its use, seaborgium is applied only in scientific research. According to the Seaborg Institute, the Los Alamos (LANL) and Lawrence Livermore (LLNL), together with the University of California, Berkeley (UCB), are the laboratories with the largest contribution in the research of actinide elements.  

How Dangerous Is Seaborgium?

Being a highly radioactive substance, seaborgium can be harmful and pose great danger to the health of the scientists who study its properties or try to produce more atoms of this chemical element.

Environmental Effects of Seaborgium

Due to the fact that there are only several synthetically produced atoms of seaborgium, this chemical element cannot be found in the environment or considered as a hazardous substance upon the geological, biological, or aquatic systems. 

Isotopes of Seaborgium

There are 13 forms of seaborgium observed so far. As this chemical element is highly radioactive, there are no stable isotopes. With a half-life of about 14 minutes, seaborgium-269 is the most stable isotope of element 106. Most of the other seaborgium isotopes have an extremely short half-life and decay within several milliseconds. 

While seaborgium-261 decays by electron capture (EC) into dubnium-261, the other isotopes of seaborgium undergo alpha decay or a spontaneous fission into rutherfordium (Rf)  isotopes. 

Nuclide

[n 1]

Z N Isotopic mass (Da)

[n 2][n 3]

Half-life Decay

mode

[n 4]

Daughter

isotope

Spin and

parity

[n 5]

Excitation energy[n 5]
258Sg 106 152 258.11298(44)# 3.3(10) ms

[2.9(+13−7) ms]

SF (various) 0+
259Sg 106 153 259.11440(13)# 580(210) ms

[0.48(+28−13) s]

α 255Rf 1/2+#
260Sg 106 154 260.114384(22) 3.8(8) ms SF (74%) (various) 0+
α (26%) 256Rf
261Sg 106 155 261.115949(20) 230(60) ms α (98.1%) 257Rf 7/2+#
EC (1.3%) 261Db
SF (.6%) (various)
262Sg[n 6] 106 156 262.11634(4) 8(3) ms

[6.9(+38−18) ms]

SF (92%) (various) 0+
α (8%)[2] 258Rf
263Sg[n 7] 106 157 263.11829(10)# 1.0(2) s α 259Rf 9/2+#
264Sg 106 158 264.11893(30)# 37 ms SF (various) 0+
265aSg 106 159 265.12109(13)# 8(3) s α 261Rf
265bSg 16.2 s α 261Rf
266Sg[n 8] 106 160 266.12198(26)# 360 ms SF (various) 0+
267Sg[n 9] 106 161 267.12436(30)# 1.4 min SF (83%) (various)
α (17%) 263Rf
269Sg[n 10] 106 163 269.12863(39)# 14 min[1] α 265Rf
271Sg[n 11] 106 165 271.13393(63)# 2.4 min α (67%) 267Rf 3/2+#
SF (33%) (various)

Source: Wikipedia

List of Seaborgium Compounds 

By the yelp of chemical calculations, it has been predicted that seaborgium would possibly adopt the oxidation state of +6. 

The first chemical compound prepared with element 106 is SgO2Cl2. It has been studied in agreement with relativistic quantum chemical calculations since there’s a lack of scientific data on this synthetic element. 

5 Interesting Facts and Explanations

  1. In 1951, the American nuclear chemist Glenn Theodore Seaborg won the Nobel prize in Chemistry for his work on the new elements with atomic mass higher than 100. This advocate for world peace and nuclear proliferation contributed to the discovery of the following transuranium elements: plutonium, berkelium, californium, einsteinium, americium, curium, fermium, mendelevium, and seaborgium.
  2. Georgy N. Flerov of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research at Dubna, Russia, U.S.S.R., announced the discovery of element 106 in June 1974. 
  3. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) officially adopted the name ‘seaborgium’ with the symbol Sg on August 30th, despite the rule that an element could not be named after a living person. At that time, Seaborg was also one of the scientists in the American team working on the discovery of element 106. 
  4. The elements with atomic numbers higher than 100 are referred to as transfermium elements. 
  5. Produced by the chemical reaction 249Cf(18O,4N)263X, seaborgium underwent an alpha emission before decaying into rutherfordium. After this, element 106 decayed by alpha emission to nobelium, which in turn further decayed between daughter and granddaughter isotope via alpha decay mode. 

Chemical Property and physical property of element Seaborgium

Symbol of Seaborgium: Sg
Name: Seaborgium
Atomic Number of Seaborgium: 106
Atomic Mass of Seaborgium: -263.1186
Uses of Seaborgium: It has no significant commercial applications.
Description of Seaborgium: Synthetic radioactive metal.
Melting Point of Seaborgium:
Boiling Point of Seaborgium:
Group of Seaborgium: Transition Metal
Shells of Seaborgium: 2,8,18,32,32,12,2
Orbitals of Seaborgium: [Rn] 5f14 6d4 7s2
Valence of Seaborgium: —
Crystal Structure of Seaborgium: Unknown
Electro Negativity of Seaborgium: —
Covalent Radius of Seaborgium: —
Ionic Radius of Seaborgium: —
Atomic Radius of Seaborgium: —
Atomic Volume of Seaborgium: —
Name Origin of Seaborgium: Named in honor of Glenn Seaborg, American physical chemist known for research on transuranium elements.
Discovered of Seaborgium By: Soviet Nuclear Research/ U. of Cal at Berkeley
Year: 1974
Location: USSR/United States
Pronounced of Seaborgium: see-BORG-i-em
Oxydation States of Seaborgium: —
Density of Seaborgium: —