List of misidentified chemical elements

Chemical elements that have been mistakenly "discovered". Further investigation showed that their discovery was either mistaken, that they have been mistaken from an already-known element, or mixture of two elements, or that they indicated a failing in theory where a new element had been assumed rather than some previously unknown behaviour.[lower-roman 1]

Name Symbol Atomic number Actual element Discovery date Discoverer
AlabamiumAb85Astatine1931 Fred Allison
Alkalinium87Francium1926 Gerald J. F. Druce, Frederick H. Loring
Anglohelvetium See Helvetium
Arconium1911 J. W. Nicholson
Asterium1898 Norman Lockyer, Carl David Tolmé Runge, Friedrich Paschen
Aurorium1874 William Huggins [1]
AusoniumAo93Neptunium1934 Enrico Fermi [2][3]
Austrium31Gallium1886 Eduard Linnemann Hypothesised from spectral line observations in the rare-earth mineral orthite.[4] It was later confirmed that these lines were due to the recently discovered gallium.
BerzeliumBz90Thorium1901 Charles Baskerville
Bohemium93Neptunium1934 Odolen Koblic
CaroliniumCn90Thorium1901 Charles Baskerville
Coronium26Iron1869 Charles Augustus Young
and William Harkness
Hypothesised from a 530.3 nm green emission line in the coronal spectrum. Later, around 1902, renamed as Newtonium. In the 1930s recognised as highly ionized iron, rather than a new element.
Cyclonium61Promethium1941 H. B. Law, Ohio State University
DakinDk85Astatine1937 Rajendralal De Cepare
DavyumIridium and rhodium1877 Serge Kern [5]
DecipiumSamarium and other rare earths1878 Marc Delafontaine Thought to have been isolated from the mineral samarskite in 1878.[6]
DianiumNiobium and tantalum1860 Wolfgang Franz von Kobell
DidymiumPraseodymium and neodymium1841 Carl Mosander
Dorine85Astatine1936 Horia Hulubei, Yvette Cauchois
Eka-caesium87Francium
Eka-rhenium107Bohrium
Florentium61Promethium1924 Luigi Rolla and Lorenzo Fernandes
GhiorsiumGh118Oganesson1999 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
GnomiumSimilarities to nickel and iron1892 Gerhard Krüss
and F. W. Schmidt
Not discovered, but hypothesised to explain discrepancies within the iron group elements for an early periodic table ordered by mass. The concept of atomic number clarified the situation without requiring the invention of a new element.
Helvetium85Astatine1940 Walter MinderRediscovered [sic] in 1942 and named Anglohelvetium
HesperiumHs94Plutonium1934 Enrico Fermi [2][3]
Illinium61Promethium1926 Smith Hopkins and Len Yntema, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
IlmeniumNiobium and tantalum1847 R. Hermann
Lucium39Yttrium1896 Prosper Barrière
Masurium43Technetium1925 Walter Noddack, Otto Berg, Ida Noddack
MoldaviumMi87Francium1936 Horia Hulubei, Yvette Cauchois
Monium1898 See Victorium
Muriaticum17Chlorine1774 Carl Wilhelm Scheele
Murium1785 Claude Louis Berthollet
NebuliumOxygen1864 William Huggins
Neutronium0(Neutronium)1926 Andreas von Antropoff
Newtonium1902 See Coronium
NipponiumNp75Rhenium1908 Masataka Ogawa
PelopiumNiobium and tantalum1846 Heinrich Rose
Polinium77Iridium1828 Gottfried Osann
Ptene76Osmium1803 Hippolyte-Victor Collet-Descotils, Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy, Louis Nicolas Vauquelin, Smithson Tennant
Protyle1816 William Prout
Russium87Francium1925 D. K. Dobroserdov
SergeniumSg108Hassium1963 Victor Cherdyntsev
Sequanium93Neptunium1939 Horia Hulubei Thought to have been present in tantalite ore, actually not present, rather than mis-identified.[7]
UnbibiumUbb119(Unbibium)2008 Amnon Marinov
VictoriumGadolinium and terbium1898 William Crookes
VirginiumVi (Vm)87Francium1930 Fred Allison
WasiumMixture of rare earths1862 J. F. Bahr

References

  1. I.e. the spectrum of highly-ionised iron being identified as Coronium.
  1. <https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=91hHDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=aurorium+huggins&source=bl&ots=QoKQnXGt2R&sig=JSyC8pLrqMaAX0qRlXBIZy4mDko&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiciY_8wuXdAhUHI8AKHYhXDnkQ6AEwAXoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=aurorium%20huggins&f=false
  2. 1 2 Element name etymologies
  3. 1 2 Fermi, Enrico (December 12, 1938). "Artificial radioactivity produced by neutron bombardment" (PDF). Nobel Lecture. pp. 416–417.
  4. Linnemann, Eduard (1886). "Austrium, ein neues metallisches Element". Monatshefte für Chemie. 7 (1): 121. doi:10.1007/BF01516564.
  5. Kern, Serge (1877). "On a new metal, davyum". Philosophical Magazine. Series 5. 4 (23): 158&ndash, 159. doi:10.1080/14786447708639315.
  6. Delafontaine, Marc (1878). "Sur le décepium, métal nouveau de la samarskite". Journal de pharmacie et de chimie. 28: 540.
  7. Fontani, Marco (2005-09-10). "The Twilight of the Naturally-Occurring Elements: Moldavium (Ml), Sequanium (Sq) and Dor (Do)". International Conference on the History of Chemistry. Lisbon. pp. 1–8. Archived from the original on 2006-02-24.


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