Chemistry International
Vol. 22, No. 6, November 2000

2000, Vol. 22
No. 6 (November)
..News from ICSU
..News and Notices
..New Projects
..Awards and Prizes
..New Books
..Provisional Recommendations
..Reports from Commissions
..In Memorium
..Conference Announcements
..Conference Calendar

Download the November
issue in pdf format.
(360K)

Download the November
cover in pdf format.
(44K)

 


CI Homepage

Chemistry International
Vol. 22, No. 6
November 2000

 

IUPAC Celebrates 80 Years of Service to Chemistry with Commemorative Periodic Table


 

IUPAC FAQs
Chemical Elements

The right to name a new element has traditionally been accorded by the scientific community to the discoverer(s) after claims have been established beyond a doubt. Since 1947, names suggested by discoverers have been reviewed for suitability by the IUPAC Commission on Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry (II.2), and the accepted name has been forwarded for approval to the IUPAC Council. To avoid confusion, discoverers are asked to use an atomic number rather than a name in the literature until approval of a proposed name is received from IUPAC. If a particular name has been used unofficially for a given element but a different name is ultimately chosen, the first name cannot be transferred at a later time to designate a different element.

The most recent process of review and approval of the names for elements 101-109 (IUPAC Recommendations 1997) appeared in Pure and Appl. Chem. Vol. 69, No. 12, pp. 2471-2473 (1997), and a summary was published in Chem. Int. Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 37-38 (1998). Because claims of the synthesis of heavy elements can be controversial, a joint Working Party of the International Unions of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and Physics (IUPAP) has been established to review published details and assign priority in the discovery. This procedure was applied to elements 101-109, and it is now in force for elements 110 and beyond. A more complete report on the procedures for naming new elements is in now preparation for submittal to Pure and Applied Chemistry.

Prof. Herbert D. Kaesz (Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095-1569, USA; E-mail: [email protected]), Chairman of the IUPAC Commission on Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry (II.2), has submitted the brief text above to accompany the commemorative periodic table inserted in the mailing with this issue of Chemistry International. The material above has been excerpted from a paper currently in preparation by Prof. W. H. Koppenol (a former Titular Member and Secretary of Commission II.2) on the procedures for naming new elements, and it incorporates suggestions offered by Prof. John Corish (President of IUPAC's Inorganic Chemistry Division) and Dr. Gerd M. Rosenblatt (Vice President of Division).

 

IUPAC Homepage

IUPAC

 


News and Notices - Organizations and People - Standing Committees
Divisions - Projects - Reports - Publications - Symposia - AMP - Links
Page last modified 23 October 2000.
Copyright © 1997-2000 International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.

Questions or comments about IUPAC, please contact the Secretariat.
Questions regarding the website, please contact [email protected]