| Chemical Properties | Back Directory | [Melting point ]
302°C | [Boiling point ]
333.81°C (estimate) | [solubility ]
soluble in HNO3, organic solvents
| [form ]
crystals | [color ]
crystals, crystalline | [Water Solubility ]
soluble organic solvents [MER06] |
| Hazard Information | Back Directory | [Chemical Properties]
radioactive crystal(s) halogen with 20 isotopes; heaviest of the halogens; 209At, t1/2=5.5 h; 210At, t1/2=8.3 h; more metallic than iodine; preparation: from Bi by α-particle bombardment; possible medical uses, concentrates in thyroid gland [HAW93] [MER06] | [Physical properties]
Physical properties of this element have not been well investigated due to short half-lives of isotopes. The element is volatile; may be distilled in vacuum at room temperature in a glass apparatus; and condensed in a dry ice trap. It is soluble in chloroform, ether, hexane and many other organic solvents. Solubility in water should be of low order. | [Occurrence]
Astatine is one of the rarest elements in nature. Extremely small amounts of short-lived isotopes At-215, At-217, At-218 and At-219 are naturally found occurring in equilibrium with uranium, neptunium and thorium isotopes. The element was named by Corson, MacKenzie and Segre who produced the first of its isotope At-211 in 1940 by bombarding bismuth with alpha particles. Since then many isotopes in the mass range 200 to 219 have been synthesized. All isotopes, however, are unstable, their half-lives ranging between a few microseconds to less than ten hours. The most stable ones are At-210, At-211 and At-209. No use of this element is known so far. | [Definition]
ChEBI: Diastatine is an elemental astatine. | [Hazard]
Exposure to radiation may cause cancer. Studies on experimental animals show it induces tumors. |
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