"Chemists Make First-Ever Compounds Of Noble Gases And Uranium
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State University chemists and their colleagues at the University of Virginia have created the first-ever compounds of uranium bonded to atoms of three so-called "noble gases" -- argon, krypton, and xenon.
In the last 40 years, scientists have only been able to form compounds from noble gases a handful of times. These chemical outcasts were once thought incapable of forming bonds with other elements, and until the 1960s were considered completely inert.
The chemists published their results Thursday, February 28, in the journal Science, available online via ScienceExpress...
...In an effort to dissect these strange results, the Ohio State portion of the research team began simulating the interaction of CUO and argon by using theoretical calculations on supercomputers at the Ohio Supercomputer Center and at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Much to the chemists' astonishment, the simulations suggested that the uranium atoms in the CUO were forming bonds with the noble gas atoms.
"We didn't really believe that, so we tried every trick we knew to prove that it wasn't true," Bursten said.
Repeated experiments with mixtures of argon and neon, as well as xenon and krypton, showed that uranium-noble gas compounds were forming. The experimental observations were corroborated by additional theoretical calculations.
"These results expand the means in which the noble gases can form compounds with other elements and give us a new look at the ways in which chemical bonds can form," Bursten said."
Interesting if true.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020402074834.htm
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