Nihonium, Tennessine, Oganesson, Moscovium: Four New Chemical Elements Get Names

Nihonium (Nh), moscovium (Mc), tennessine (Ts) and oganesson (Og) are the new names of chemical elements 113, 115, 117 and 118 on the periodic table.

Periodic table of the elements. Image credit: International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry / Sci-News.com.

“It is a pleasure to see that specific places and names related to the new elements is recognized in these four names,” said Prof. Jan Reedijk, President of the Inorganic Chemistry Division of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).

“Although these choices may perhaps be viewed by some as slightly self-indulgent, the names are completely in accordance with IUPAC rules.”

“In fact, I see it as thrilling to recognize that international collaborations were at the core of these discoveries and that these new names also make the discoveries somewhat tangible.”

For the element with atomic number 113 (temporary name ununtrium, or Uut) a team of scientists from the RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-based Science in Japan proposed the name nihonium and the symbol Nh.

Nihon is one of the two ways to say ‘Japan’ in Japanese, and literally mean ‘the Land of Rising Sun.’

The name is proposed to make a direct connection to the nation where the element was discovered.

For elements 115 (temporary name ununpentium, or Uup) and 117 (temporary name ununseptium, or Uus) a teams of discoverers from the Dubna-Livermore-Oak Ridge collaboration proposed the names moscovium (symbol Mc) and tennessine (Ts).

Moscovium is in recognition of the Moscow region and honors the ancient land in Europe that is the home of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, where the discovery experiments were conducted using the Dubna Gas-Filled Recoil Separator in combination with the heavy ion accelerator capabilities of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions.

Tennessine is in recognition of the contribution of the Tennessee region, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Vanderbilt University, and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, to superheavy element research, including the production and chemical separation of unique actinide target materials for superheavy element synthesis at ORNL’s High Flux Isotope Reactor and Radiochemical Engineering Development Center.

For the element with atomic number 118 (temporary name ununoctium, or Uuo) a teams of discoverers from the Dubna–Livermore collaboration proposed the name oganesson (Og).

The proposal is in line with the tradition of honoring a scientist and recognizes Prof. Yuri Oganessian (born 1933) for his pioneering contributions to transactinoid elements research.