Summary and Comparison of Properties of the Actinide and Transactinide Elements

This chapter is intended to provide a unified view of selected aspects of the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the actinide elements, their typical compounds, and their ions in aqueous solutions. The f-block elements have many unique features, and a comparison of similar species of the lanthanide and actinide transition series provides valuable insights into the properties of both. Comparative data are presented on the electronic configurations, oxidation states, oxidation-reduction (redox) potentials, thermochemical data, crystal structures, and ionic radii of the actinide elements, together with important topics related to their environmental properties and toxicology. Many of the topics in this chapter, and some that are not discussed here, are the subjects of subsequent chapters of this work, which should be consulted for more comprehensive treatments. This chapter provides an opportunity to discuss the biological and environmental aspects of the actinide elements, subjects that were barely mentioned in the first edition of this work and discussed only briefly in the second edition, but have assumed great importance in recent years. This chapter also provides a summary of the chemical properties of the transactinide elements that have been characterized.