View source for Transfermium Wars

{{Short description|Disputes between American and Soviet scientists over element naming}}
{{Refimprove|date=June 2010}}

The names for the chemical elements 104 to 106 were the subject of a major controversy starting in the 1960s, described by some nuclear chemists as the '''Transfermium Wars'''<ref>{{cite journal | journal = Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists | date = 1995 | volume = 51 | issue = 1 | page =5 | issn = 0096-3402 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=twwAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA5 | title = The Transfermium Wars| publisher = Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science, Inc }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine | url = http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2009-06/whats-it-name-element-periodic-table | title = What's It Like to Name An Element on the Periodic Table? | magazine = Popular Science | first = Stuart | last =Fox | date = 2009-06-29}}</ref> because it concerned the elements following [[fermium]] (element 100) on the [[periodic table]].

This controversy arose from disputes between American scientists and Soviet scientists as to which had first isolated these elements. The final resolution of this controversy in 1997 also decided the names of elements 107 to 109.

== Controversy ==
By convention, naming rights for newly discovered chemical elements go to their discoverers. For elements 104, 105, and 106, there was a controversy between Soviet researchers at the [[Joint Institute for Nuclear Research]] and American researchers at [[Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory]] regarding which group had discovered them first. Both parties suggested their own names for elements 104 and 105, not recognizing the other's name.

The American name of [[seaborgium]] for element 106 was also objectionable to some, because it referred to American chemist [[Glenn T. Seaborg]] who was still alive at the time this name was proposed.<ref>Seaborg commented wryly at a talk in 1995 that "There has been some reluctance on the part of the Commission for Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry to accept the name because I'm still alive and they can prove it, they say." (An Early History of LBNL by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg {{cite web |url=http://dsd.lbl.gov/Seaborg.talks/65th-anniv/23.html |title=An Early History of LBNL by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg |access-date=2007-03-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041021013514/http://www.dsd.lbl.gov/Seaborg.talks/65th-anniv/23.html |archive-date=2004-10-21 }})</ref> ([[Einsteinium]] and [[fermium]] had also been proposed as names of new elements while [[Albert Einstein]] and [[Enrico Fermi]] were still living, but only made public after their deaths, due to [[Cold War]] secrecy.)

== Opponents ==
The two principal groups which were involved in the conflict over element naming were:
* An American group at [[Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory]].
* A Russian group at [[Joint Institute for Nuclear Research]] in [[Dubna]].

and, as a kind of arbiter,
* The [[International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry|IUPAC]] Commission on Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry, which introduced its own proposal to the IUPAC General Assembly.

The German group at the [[Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung]] (GSI) in [[Darmstadt]], who had (undisputedly) discovered elements 107 to 109, were dragged into the controversy when the Commission suggested that the name "hahnium", proposed for element 105 by the Americans, be used for GSI's element 108 instead.

{| class="wikitable"
|+Preferred names
!Group
![[Atomic number]]
!Name
![[Eponym]]
|-
|rowspan=3|American
|104
|Rutherfordium
|[[Ernest Rutherford]]
|-
|105
|Hahnium
|[[Otto Hahn]]
|-
|106
|Seaborgium
|[[Glenn T. Seaborg]]
|-
|rowspan=2|Russian
|104
|Kurchatovium
|[[Igor Kurchatov]]
|-
|105
|Nielsbohrium
|[[Niels Bohr]]
|}

===Proposals===

====Darmstadt====
The names suggested for the elements 107 to 109 by the German group were:<ref>[http://www.gsi.de/documents/DOC-2003-Jun-35-5.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309051536/http://www.gsi.de/documents/DOC-2003-Jun-35-5.pdf|date=2012-03-09}} IUPAC verabschiedet
Namen für schwere
Elemente</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Atomic number
!Name
!Eponym
|-
|107
|Nielsbohrium
|[[Niels Bohr]]
|-
|108
|Hassium
|[[Hesse|Hesse, Germany]]
|-
|109
|Meitnerium
|[[Lise Meitner]]
|}

====IUPAC====
In 1994, the IUPAC Commission on Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry proposed the following names:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Atomic number
!Name
!Eponym
|-
|104
|Dubnium
|[[Dubna]], [[Russia]]
|-
|105
|Joliotium
|[[Frédéric Joliot-Curie]]
|-
|106
|Rutherfordium
|[[Ernest Rutherford]]
|-
|107
|Bohrium
|[[Niels Bohr]]
|-
|108
|Hahnium
|[[Otto Hahn]]
|-
|109
|Meitnerium
|[[Lise Meitner]]
|}

This attempted to resolve the dispute by sharing the namings of the disputed elements between Russians and Americans, replacing the name for 104 with one honoring the [[Joint Institute for Nuclear Research|Dubna research center]], and not naming 106 after Seaborg.

== Objections to the IUPAC 94 proposal ==
This solution drew objections from the [[American Chemical Society]] (ACS) on the grounds that the right of the American group to propose the name for element 106 was not in question, and that group should have the right to name the element. Indeed, [[IUPAC]] decided that the credit for the discovery of element 106 should be awarded to Berkeley.

Along the same lines, the German group protested against naming element 108 by the American suggestion "hahnium", mentioning the long-standing convention that an element is named by its discoverers.<ref>http://www.gsi.de/documents/DOC-2003-Jun-35-5.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309051536/http://www.gsi.de/documents/DOC-2003-Jun-35-5.pdf |date=2012-03-09 }} (in German).</ref>
 
In addition, given that many American books had already used rutherfordium and hahnium for 104 and 105, the ACS objected to those names being used for other elements.

In 1995, IUPAC abandoned the controversial rule and established a committee of national representatives aimed at finding a compromise. They suggested ''seaborgium'' for element 106 in exchange for the removal of all the other American proposals, except for the established name ''lawrencium'' for element 103. The equally entrenched name ''nobelium'' for element 102 was replaced by ''flerovium'' after [[Georgy Flyorov]], following the recognition by the 1993 report that that element had been first synthesized in Dubna. This was rejected by American scientists and the decision was retracted.<ref name="AlbertC2000">{{cite book|last1=Hoffman|first1=D. C.|last2=Ghiorso |first2=A.|author-link2=Albert Ghiorso|last3=Seaborg|first3=G. T.|author-link3=Glenn T. Seaborg|title=The Transuranium People: The Inside Story|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yP63CgAAQBAJ|year=2000|publisher=World Scientific|isbn=978-1-78326-244-1|pages=389–394}}</ref> The name ''flerovium'' was later used for [[element 114]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Loss |first1=R. D. |last2=Corish |first2=J. |date=2012 |title=Names and symbols of the elements with atomic numbers 114 and 116 (IUPAC Recommendations 2012) |url=https://www.iupac.org/publications/pac/pdf/2012/pdf/8407x1669.pdf |journal=Pure and Applied Chemistry |volume=84 |issue=7 |pages=1669–72 |doi=10.1351/PAC-REC-11-12-03 |s2cid=96830750 |access-date=21 April 2018}}</ref>

== Resolution (IUPAC 97) ==
In 1996, IUPAC held another meeting, reconsidered all names in hand, and accepted another set of recommendations; finally, it was approved and published in 1997 on the 39th IUPAC General Assembly in [[Geneva]], Switzerland.<ref name="Bera1999">{{Cite journal|last=Bera|first=J. K.|year=1999|title=Names of the Heavier Elements |journal=Resonance|volume=4|issue=3|pages=53–61|doi=10.1007/BF02838724|s2cid=121862853}}</ref> Element 105 was named ''dubnium'' (Db), after [[Dubna]] in Russia, the location of the JINR; the American suggestions were used for elements 102, 103, 104, and 106. The name ''dubnium'' had been used for element 104 in the previous IUPAC recommendation. The American scientists "reluctantly" approved this decision.<ref name=transuranium>{{cite book |last1=Hoffman |first1=D. C. |last2=Ghiorso |first2=A. |last3=Seaborg |first3=G. T. |title=The Transuranium People: The Inside Story |year=2000 |pages=369–399 |publisher=Imperial College Press |isbn=978-1-86094-087-3}}</ref> IUPAC pointed out that the Berkeley laboratory had already been recognized several times, in the naming of [[berkelium]], [[californium]], and [[americium]], and that the acceptance of the names ''rutherfordium'' and ''seaborgium'' for elements 104 and 106 should be offset by recognizing JINR's contributions to the discovery of elements 104, 105, and 106.<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1351/pac199769122471|title=Names and symbols of transfermium elements (IUPAC Recommendations 1997) | year=1997 | journal=Pure and Applied Chemistry | volume=69 | pages=2471–2474 | issue=12| doi-access=free }}</ref>

The following names were agreed in 1997 on the 39th IUPAC General Assembly in [[Geneva]], Switzerland:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Atomic number
!Name
!Eponym
|-
|104
|[[Rutherfordium]]
|[[Ernest Rutherford]]
|-
|105
|[[Dubnium]]
|[[Dubna|Dubna, Russia]]
|-
|106
|[[Seaborgium]]
|[[Glenn Theodore Seaborg]]
|-
|107
|[[Bohrium]]
|[[Niels Bohr]]
|-
|108
|[[Hassium]]
|[[Hesse|Hesse, Germany]]
|-
|109
|[[Meitnerium]]
|[[Lise Meitner]]
|}

Thus, the convention of the discoverer's right to name their elements was respected for elements 106 to 109,<ref>Except for the change from nielsbohrium to bohrium, following the convention that elements are named after last names of scientists only.</ref> and the two disputed claims were "shared" between the two opponents.

== Summary ==

{|class="wikitable" style="margin:0; font-size:85%; white-space:nowrap;"
|+ Summary of element naming proposals and final decisions for elements 101–112 (those covered in the TWG report)<ref name=transuranium/>
|-
! {{abbr|Z|Atomic number}} !! [[Mendeleev's predicted elements|Mendeleev]] !! Systematic !! American !! Russian !! German !! Compromise 92 !!  IUPAC 94 !! {{abbr|ACS|American Chemical Society}} 94 !! IUPAC 95 !! IUPAC 97 !! '''Present'''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | 101 || eka-thulium || (unnilunium) || style="background: #DFD;" | '''mendelevium''' || {{sdash}} || {{sdash}} || style="background: #DFD;" | '''mendelevium''' || style="background: #DFD;" | '''mendelevium''' || style="background: #DFD;" | '''mendelevium''' || style="background: #DFD;" | '''mendelevium''' || style="background: #DFD;" | '''mendelevium''' || style="background: #DFD;" | [[mendelevium]]
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | 102 || eka-ytterbium || (unnilbium) || style="background: #DFD;" | '''nobelium''' || joliotium || {{sdash}} || joliotium || style="background: #DFD;" | '''nobelium''' || style="background: #DFD;" | '''nobelium''' || style="background: #FF9;" | flerovium || style="background: #DFD;" | '''nobelium''' || style="background: #DFD;" | [[nobelium]]
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | 103 || eka-lutetium || (unniltrium) || style="background: #DFD;" | '''lawrencium''' || style="background: #FF9;" | rutherfordium || {{sdash}} || style="background: #DFD;" | '''lawrencium''' || style="background: #DFD;" | '''lawrencium''' || style="background: #DFD;" | '''lawrencium''' || style="background: #DFD;" | '''lawrencium''' || style="background: #DFD;" | '''lawrencium''' || style="background: #DFD;" | [[lawrencium]]
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | 104 || eka-hafnium || unnilquadium || style="background: #DFD;" | '''rutherfordium''' || kurchatovium || {{sdash}} || style="background: #FF9;" | meitnerium || style="background: #FF9;" | dubnium || style="background: #DFD;" | '''rutherfordium''' || style="background: #FF9;" | dubnium || style="background: #DFD;" | '''rutherfordium''' || style="background: #DFD;" | [[rutherfordium]]
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | 105 || eka-tantalum || unnilpentium || hahnium || nielsbohrium || {{sdash}} || kurchatovium || joliotium || hahnium || joliotium || style="background: #DFD;" | '''dubnium''' || style="background: #DFD;" | [[dubnium]]
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | 106 || eka-tungsten || unnilhexium || style="background: #DFD;" | '''seaborgium''' || {{sdash}} || {{sdash}} || style="background: #FF9;" | rutherfordium || style="background: #FF9;" | rutherfordium || style="background: #DFD;" | '''seaborgium''' || style="background: #DFD;" | '''seaborgium''' || style="background: #DFD;" | '''seaborgium''' || style="background: #DFD;" | [[seaborgium]]
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | 107 || eka-rhenium || unnilseptium || {{sdash}} || {{sdash}} || nielsbohrium || nielsbohrium || style="background: #DFD;" | '''bohrium''' || nielsbohrium || nielsbohrium || style="background: #DFD;" | '''bohrium''' || style="background: #DFD;" | [[bohrium]]
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | 108 || eka-osmium || unniloctium || {{sdash}} || {{sdash}} || style="background: #DFD;" | '''hassium''' || style="background: #DFD;" | '''hassium''' || hahnium || style="background: #DFD;" | '''hassium''' || hahnium || style="background: #DFD;" | '''hassium''' || style="background: #DFD;" | [[hassium]]
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | 109 || eka-iridium || unnilennium || {{sdash}} || {{sdash}} || style="background: #DFD;" | '''meitnerium''' || hahnium || style="background: #DFD;" | '''meitnerium''' || style="background: #DFD;" | '''meitnerium''' || style="background: #DFD;" | '''meitnerium''' || style="background: #DFD;" | '''meitnerium''' || style="background: #DFD;" | [[meitnerium]]
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | 110 || eka-platinum || ununnilium || hahnium || becquerelium || style="background: #DFD;" | '''darmstadtium''' || {{sdash}} || {{sdash}} || {{sdash}} || {{sdash}} || {{sdash}} || style="background: #DFD;" | [[darmstadtium]]
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | 111 || eka-gold || unununium || {{sdash}} || {{sdash}} || style="background: #DFD;" | '''roentgenium''' || {{sdash}} || {{sdash}} || {{sdash}} || {{sdash}} || {{sdash}} || style="background: #DFD;" | [[roentgenium]]
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | 112 || eka-mercury || ununbium || {{sdash}} || {{sdash}} || style="background: #DFD;" | '''copernicium''' || {{sdash}} || {{sdash}} || {{sdash}} || {{sdash}} || {{sdash}} || style="background: #DFD;" | [[copernicium]]
|-
| colspan=12 | 
{{legend|#DFD|proposal eventually accepted.}}
{{legend|#FF9|name eventually used for a different element. [[Flerovium]], IUPAC 1995 proposal for element 102, was adopted uncontroversially for element 114 (eka-lead).}}
|}

In some countries uninvolved in the dispute, such as Poland, Denmark,<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zLEt6Adu5l0C&dq=%22104+kurchatovium+105+hahnium%22&pg=PA240 | title=Gyldendals Minilex. Biologi | date=2009 | publisher=Gyldendal Uddannelse | isbn=9788702028096 }}</ref> India,<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CdZ2rQ8rNlAC&dq=%22kurchatovium+hahnium%22&pg=PP1 | title=Inorganic Chemistry | date=1984 | publisher=Mittal Publications | isbn=9788170998280 }}</ref> and Indonesia,<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1dlZZkx_pYoC&dq=%22Kurchatovium+hahnium%22&pg=PA12 | title=Biology | date=1999 | publisher=Erlangga | isbn=9789797817138 }}</ref> both ''kurchatovium'' for element 104 and ''hahnium'' for element 105 were used until 1997. 

==See also==
* [[List of chemical element name etymologies]]
* [[List of chemical element naming controversies]] (includes Z = 23, 41, 70, 71, 74)
* [[Systematic element name]]
* [[Chemical nomenclature]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.vanderkrogt.net/elements/ Elementymology & Elements Multidict]
* [http://www.periodictable.com/Elements/106/index.html#sample2 Picture of a Seaborgium card autographed by Seaborg]

{{Soviet Union–United States relations|state=collapsed}}
{{History of physics}}
{{History of chemistry}}

[[Category:20th century in science]]
[[Category:Naming of chemical elements]]
[[Category:Chemical nomenclature]]
[[Category:History of chemistry]]
[[Category:History of physics]]
[[Category:Rutherfordium]]
[[Category:Dubnium]]
[[Category:Seaborgium]]
[[Category:Bohrium]]
[[Category:Hassium]]
[[Category:Meitnerium]]
[[Category:Discovery and invention controversies]]
[[Category:Naming controversies]]
[[Category:Soviet Union–United States relations]]
[[Category:Scientific rivalry]]