- Copernicium (Cn) is a synthetic, radioactive element with atomic number 112, positioned in Group 12 of the periodic table, directly beneath mercury.
- It belongs to the transactinide series and is considered a 6d transition metal, although some predictions suggest it may behave more like a noble gas due to strong relativistic effects.
- Its predicted electron configuration is [Rn] 5f¹⁴ 6d¹⁰ 7s², following the pattern of zinc, cadmium, and mercury. Copernicium is expected to exhibit a +2 oxidation state as its most stable form, while +1 and +4 states may also be possible. The atom contains one hundred and twelve protons, approximately one hundred and seventy to one hundred and seventy-six neutrons depending on the isotope, and one hundred and twelve electrons in seven shells.
- The most stable known isotope is copernicium-285 (²⁸⁵Cn), with a half-life of about 34 seconds, while others typically decay in milliseconds to a few seconds.
- Copernicium was first synthesized on February 9, 1996, at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI) in Darmstadt, Germany, by a team led by Sigurd Hofmann, Victor Ninov, and colleagues. The team bombarded a lead-208 (²⁰⁸Pb) target with accelerated zinc-70 (⁷⁰Zn) ions, producing copernicium-277 (²⁷⁷Cn). Only a few atoms were detected, but their decay chains confirmed the element’s creation.
- The element was named copernicium in honor of Nicolaus Copernicus, the Renaissance astronomer who formulated the heliocentric model of the solar system. The name and symbol Cn were officially approved by IUPAC on February 19, 2010—Copernicus’s birthday.
- Copernicium has no known practical uses because of its instability and the fact that it is produced atom by atom in particle accelerators. Its importance lies in fundamental scientific research, particularly in exploring the “island of stability” of superheavy elements and testing quantum relativistic theories.
- Chemically, copernicium is predicted to be very unusual. While Group 12 elements typically act as metals, copernicium may behave more like a noble gas due to relativistic stabilization of its outermost electrons. This could make it highly volatile and possibly gaseous at room temperature. Some theoretical models suggest that copernicium might form weakly bound compounds such as copernicium diatomic molecules (Cn₂) or simple halides like CnF₂. Experimental confirmation, however, remains extremely limited.
- Biologically, copernicium has no function and is highly radiotoxic, but its short half-lives and scarcity prevent any interaction with biological systems.
- Environmentally, copernicium is not found in nature. It exists only under controlled laboratory conditions and decays rapidly into lighter elements, leaving no environmental trace.
