Pyrovus - 5-11-2003 at 22:35
I've been looking for information on this element for a while, because for some reason Astatine holds a particular fascination to me. However,
all the information I've been able to find on it's chemical properties is the bleeding obvious -"it's a bit like iodine".
While it is highly radioactive, I do know for a fact that they have done some investigation into it's properties, but they never go into detail.
I'm just wondering if anybody here knows anything about Astatine.
Just a short info from Merck Index
Mephisto - 6-11-2003 at 09:26
Title: Astatine.
CAS Registry number: [7440-68-8]
Literature references: At; at. no. 85. Radioactive halogen; one of the rarest elements in nature. Radioisotopes range in mass number
from 200 to 219; naturally occurring isotopes found in uranium ores: 215, 217, 218, 219 (longest-lived natural isotope, T½ 0.9 min); most stable
artificial isotopes: 209 (T½ 5.5 hrs); 210 (T½ 8.3 hrs); 211 (T½ 7.21 hrs). First convincingly identified by
Corson et al., Phys. Rev. 58, 672 (1940). 209At, 210At, 211At are obtained artificially by alpha bombardment of bismuth: Kelley, Segre, Phys. Rev. 75,
999 (1949); Johnson et al., J. Chem. Phys. 17, 1, (1949); Neumann, J. Inorg. & Nucl. Chem. 4, 349 (1957). Reviews: Hyde, J. Chem. Ed. 36, 15
(1959); Haissinsky, Adloff, Radiochemical Survey of the Elements (Elsevier, 1965) pp 11-12; Appelman, "Astatine" in MTP Int. Rev. Sci.:
Inorg. Chem., Ser. One, vol. 3, V. Gutmann, Ed. (Butterworths, London, 1972) 181-198; Downs, Adams, "Chlorine, Bromine, Iodine and Astatine"
in Comprehensive Inorganic Chemistry vol. 2, J. C. Bailar, Jr. et al., Eds. (Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1973) pp 1107-1594.
Properties: More metallic than iodine. Soluble in organic solvents. Due to short half-life of isotopes, only a few physical
properties can be measured. Chemical studies are carried out on trace amounts (<10–8M solns). HAt, CH3At, AtCl, AtBr, AtI have been identified by
time-of-flight mass spectrometry: Appleman et al., Inorg. Chem. 5, 766 (1966). Oxidation states: –1, 0, +5; existente of +1, +3, +7 oxidation states
uncertain; E0(aq) At/At– 0.3 V: Appleman, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 83, 805 (1961). When fed to Guinea pigs, is found in the thyroid gland. Mammary and
pituitary tumors can be induced with a single injection.