The coordination properties and ionic radius of actinium: A 120-year-old enigma

Abstract

Abstract Actinium is an elusive element with untamed properties and represents a peculiar case in the periodic table, as its isotopes are all radioactive, the longest-lived one having only a 22-year half-life, and the availability of actinium isotopes remains very low (microgram level, at best), hindering research on its compounds. Despite being a natural element discovered more than 120\xa0years ago, and despite an increasing interest in using one of its isotopes (225Ac) for highly efficient cancer therapies, the chemistry of actinium is still largely unknown relative to other elements. Since Ac is the first element of the actinide series, it is accepted that its ion, Ac3+, is the most voluminous trivalent cation of the periodic table. However, the structural data available on Ac3+ compounds are scarce and have mainly been collected in the 1940-1960′s, when actinide chemistry was still in its infancy, and have not been put in perspective with the advances in the chemistry of other elements, making it difficult to accurately evaluate its actual size and coordination chemistry. Herein, we review progress made on the chemistry of lanthanides and actinides and reevaluate the structural data published on Ac3+ since the era of the Manhattan Project. The data are combined across different spectroscopic and characterization methods and presented in the context of periodic trends. When considering crystallographic data, solution chemistry results, and the nuclear properties of actinium isotopes, it appears that some structural parameters ascribed to the Ac3+ ion may have been overestimated. This review can guide researchers interested in actinide sciences and those who are pursuing the development of actinium-based radiotherapies, from isotope production to clinical trials.