Abstract
The recognition, in July 1944, that the unknown elements with atomic numbers 95 and 96 should be members of an actinide transition series was the key to their chemical identification following nuclear synthesis, i.e., the breakthrough that led to their discovery. That same month 239Pu was bombarded with 32 MeV helium ions in the Berkeley 60-Inch Cyclotron and sent to the wartime Metallurgical Laboratory in Chicago where chemical separations led to the identification of 24296, produced in the reaction 239Pu (α,n) Neutron bombardments of 239Pu in the reactors at Clinton Laboratories, Tennessee, and the Hanford Engineer Works, Washington, followed by chemical separations in Chicago, led to the identification, completed in January 1945, of 24095 and 24296 (again), produced by the reactions 239Pu (n,γ) 240Pu (n,γ) \( ^{241}Pu{\text{ }}{\xrightarrow{{{\beta ^ - }}}^{241}}95{(N,\gamma )^{242}}{95_{\xrightarrow{{{\beta ^ - }}}}}^{242}96. \) The names americium (95) and curium (96) were suggested at an ACS annual Spring Meeting in April, 1946.
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References
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© 1985 D. Reidel Publishing Company
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Seaborg, G.T. (1985). The 40th Anniversary of the Discovery of Americium and Curium. In: Edelstein, N.M., Navratil, J.D., Schulz, W.W. (eds) Americium and Curium Chemistry and Technology. Topics in f-Element Chemistry, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5444-1_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5444-1_1
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