:Darmstadtium

{{Excerpt|Superheavy element|Introduction|subsections=yes}}

File:Luisenplatz, Darmstadt.jpg, the namesake of darmstadtium]]

Darmstadtium was first discovered on November 9, 1994, at the Institute for Heavy Ion Research (Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung, GSI) in Darmstadt, Germany, by Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Münzenberg, under the direction of Sigurd Hofmann. The team bombarded a lead-208 target with accelerated nuclei of nickel-62 in a heavy ion accelerator and detected a single atom of the isotope darmstadtium-269:{{cite journal|doi=10.1007/BF01291181|title=Production and decay of ²⁶⁹110|year=1995

|journal=Zeitschrift für Physik A |volume=350|page=277|last1=Hofmann|first1=S.|last2=Ninov|first2=V.|last3=Heßberger|first3=F. P.|last4=Armbruster|first4=P.|last5=Folger|first5=H.|last6=Münzenberg|first6=G.|last7=Schött|first7=H. J.|last8=Popeko|first8=A. G.|last9=Yeremin|first9=A. V.|first10=A. N.|last10=Andreyev|first11=S. |last11=Saro|first12=R. |last12=Janik|first13=M. |last13=Leino|s2cid=125020220|bibcode = 1995ZPhyA.350..277H|issue=4}}

{{block indent|{{Chem|208|82|Pb}} + {{Chem|62|28|Ni}} → {{Chem|269|110|Ds}} + {{Chem|1|0}}n}}

Two more atoms followed on November 12 and 17. (Yet another was originally reported to have been found on November 11, but it turned out to be based on data fabricated by Victor Ninov, and was later retracted.){{cite journal|last= Dalton |first=Rex|title=California lab fires physicist over retracted finding|journal=Nature| volume= 418| number= 6895|year= 2002|page= 261|doi=10.1038/418261b|pmid=12124581|bibcode=2002Natur.418..261D|doi-access=free}}

In the same series of experiments, the same team also carried out the reaction using heavier nickel-64 ions. During two runs, 9 atoms of {{Chem|271|Ds}} were convincingly detected by correlation with known daughter decay properties:{{cite journal|doi=10.1088/0034-4885/61/6/002|date=1998|author=Hofmann, S|journal=Reports on Progress in Physics|volume=61|page=639|bibcode = 1998RPPh...61..639H|title=New elements – approaching|issue=6 |s2cid=250756383 }}

{{block indent|{{Chem|208|82|Pb}} + {{Chem|64|28|Ni}} → {{Chem|271|110|Ds}} + {{Chem|1|0}}n}}

Prior to this, there had been failed synthesis attempts in 1986–87 at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna (then in the Soviet Union) and in 1990 at the GSI. A 1995 attempt at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory resulted in signs suggesting but not pointing conclusively at the discovery of a new isotope {{Chem|267|Ds}} formed in the bombardment of {{Chem|209|Bi}} with {{Chem|59|Co}}, and a similarly inconclusive 1994 attempt at the JINR showed signs of {{Chem|273|Ds}} being produced from {{Chem|244|Pu}} and {{Chem|34|S}}. Each team proposed its own name for element 110: the American team proposed hahnium after Otto Hahn in an attempt to resolve the controversy of naming element 105 (which they had long been suggesting this name for), the Russian team proposed becquerelium after Henri Becquerel, and the German team proposed darmstadtium after Darmstadt, the location of their institute.{{Cite journal|doi=10.1351/pac199365081757|title=Discovery of the transfermium elements. Part II: Introduction to discovery profiles. Part III: Discovery profiles of the transfermium elements|year=1993|author=Barber, R. C.|journal=Pure and Applied Chemistry|volume=65|pages=1757|last2=Greenwood|first2=N. N.|last3=Hrynkiewicz|first3=A. Z.|last4=Jeannin|first4=Y. P.|last5=Lefort|first5=M.|last6=Sakai|first6=M.|last7=Ulehla|first7=I.|last8=Wapstra|first8=A. P.|last9=Wilkinson|first9=D. H.

|issue=8|s2cid=195819585|doi-access=free}} (Note: for Part I see Pure Appl. Chem., Vol. 63, No. 6, pp. 879–886, 1991) The IUPAC/IUPAP Joint Working Party (JWP) recognised the GSI team as discoverers in their 2001 report, giving them the right to suggest a name for the element.{{cite journal|doi=10.1351/pac200173060959|title=On the discovery of the elements 110–112 (IUPAC Technical Report)|date=2001|author=Karol, P. J.|journal=Pure and Applied Chemistry|volume=73|page=959|last2=Nakahara|first2=H.|last3=Petley|first3=B. W.|last4=Vogt|first4=E.|issue=6|s2cid=97615948|doi-access=free}}

Using Mendeleev's nomenclature for unnamed and undiscovered elements, darmstadtium should be known as eka-platinum. In 1979, IUPAC published recommendations according to which the element was to be called ununnilium (with the corresponding symbol of Uun),{{cite journal|author=Chatt, J.|journal=Pure and Applied Chemistry|date=1979|volume=51|pages=381–384|title=Recommendations for the naming of elements of atomic numbers greater than 100|doi=10.1351/pac197951020381|issue=2|doi-access=free}} a systematic element name as a placeholder, until the element was discovered (and the discovery then confirmed) and a permanent name was decided on. Although widely used in the chemical community on all levels, from chemistry classrooms to advanced textbooks, the recommendations were mostly ignored among scientists in the field, who called it "element 110", with the symbol of E110, (110) or even simply 110.

In 1996, the Russian team proposed the name becquerelium after Henri Becquerel.{{Cite web|url=http://element114.narod.ru/110-history.html|title=Chemistry : Periodic Table : darmstadtium : historical information|date=January 17, 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050117160457/http://element114.narod.ru/110-history.html|archive-date=January 17, 2005}} The American team in 1997 proposed the name hahnium{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yP63CgAAQBAJ&q=element+110+hahnium&pg=PA397 | title=Transuranium People, The: The Inside Story| isbn=9781783262441| last1=Albert| first1=Ghiorso| last2=Darleane| first2=Hoffman C| last3=Glenn| first3=Seaborg T| date=2000-01-21| publisher=World Scientific}} after Otto Hahn (previously this name had been used for element 105).

The name darmstadtium (Ds) was suggested by the GSI team in honor of the city of Darmstadt, where the element was discovered. The GSI team originally also considered naming the element wixhausium, after the suburb of Darmstadt known as Wixhausen where the element was discovered, but eventually decided on darmstadtium.{{cite web |url=http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/podcast/interactive_periodic_table_transcripts/darmstadtium.asp |title=Chemistry in its element – darmstadtium |website=Chemistry in its element |publisher=Royal Society of Chemistry |access-date=17 October 2012 |archive-date=October 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026083835/https://www.chemistryworld.com/PageNotFound.aspx |url-status=live }} Policium had also been proposed as a joke due to the emergency telephone number in Germany being 1–1–0.{{cite book|last=Hofmann |first=Sigurd|title=On Beyond Uranium: Journey to the End of the Periodic Table|year=2003|publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn= 9780203300985 |page=177}} The new name darmstadtium was officially recommended by IUPAC on August 16, 2003.{{cite journal |last1=Corish |first1=J. |last2=Rosenblatt |first2=G. M. |date=2003 |title=Name and symbol of the element with atomic number 110 |journal=Pure Appl. Chem. |volume=75 |issue=10 |pages=1613–1615 |doi=10.1351/pac200375101613 |s2cid=97249985 |url=http://pac.iupac.org/publications/pac/pdf/2003/pdf/7510x1613.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://pac.iupac.org/publications/pac/pdf/2003/pdf/7510x1613.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |access-date=17 October 2012}}

{{clear}}

{{main|Isotopes of darmstadtium}}

{{Isotopes summary

|element=darmstadtium

|reaction_ref={{Thoennessen2016|pages=229, 234, 238}}

|isotopes=

{{isotopes summary/isotope

|mn=267 |sym=Ds{{efn|name=nc|This isotope is unconfirmed}} |hl={{sort|000000010|10 µs}} |ref={{NUBASE2016|ref}}

|dm=α |year=1994 |re=²⁰⁹Bi(⁵⁹Co,n)

}}

{{isotopes summary/isotope

|mn=269 |sym=Ds |hl={{sort|230|230 µs}} |ref={{NUBASE2016|name}}

|dm=α |year=1994 |re=²⁰⁸Pb(⁶²Ni,n)

}}

{{isotopes summary/isotope

|mn=270 |sym=Ds |hl={{sort|205|205 µs}} |ref={{NUBASE2016|name}}

|dm=α |year=2000 |re=²⁰⁷Pb(⁶⁴Ni,n)

}}

{{isotopes summary/isotope

|mn=270m |sym=Ds |hl={{sort|10000|10 ms}} |ref={{NUBASE2016|name}}

|dm=α |year=2000 |re=²⁰⁷Pb(⁶⁴Ni,n)

}}

{{isotopes summary/isotope

|mn=271 |sym=Ds |hl={{sort|90000|90 ms}} |ref={{NUBASE2016|name}}

|dm=α |year=1994 |re=²⁰⁸Pb(⁶⁴Ni,n)

}}

{{isotopes summary/isotope

|mn=271m |sym=Ds |hl={{sort|1700|1.7 ms}} |ref={{NUBASE2016|name}}

|dm=α |year=1994 |re=²⁰⁸Pb(⁶⁴Ni,n)

}}

{{isotopes summary/isotope

|mn=273 |sym=Ds |hl={{sort|240|240 µs}} |ref={{NUBASE2016|name}}

|dm=α |year=1996 |re=²⁴⁴Pu(³⁴S,5n){{cite journal|doi=10.1103/PhysRevC.54.620 |pmid = 9971385|title=α decay of ²⁷³110: Shell closure at N=162|date=1996|author=Lazarev, Yu. A.|journal=Physical Review C|volume=54|last2=Lobanov|first2=Yu.|last3=Oganessian|first3=Yu.|last4=Utyonkov|first4=V.|last5=Abdullin|first5=F.|last6=Polyakov|first6=A.|last7=Rigol|first7=J.|last8=Shirokovsky|first8=I.|last9=Tsyganov|first9=Yu.|first10=S. |last10=Iliev|first11=V. G. |last11=Subbotin|first12=A. M. |last12=Sukhov|first13=G. V. |last13=Buklanov|first14=B. N. |last14=Gikal|first15=V. B. |last15=Kutner|first16=A. N. |last16=Mezentsev|first17=K. |last17=Subotic|first18=J. F. |last18=Wild|first19=R. W. |last19=Lougheed|first20=K. J. |last20=Moody |bibcode = 1996PhRvC..54..620L|issue=2 |pages = 620–625}}

}}

{{Isotopes summary/isotope |mn=275 |sym=Ds |hl={{sort|430|430 µs}} |ref={{cite journal |last1=Oganessian |first1=Yuri |display-authors=etal |date=6 May 2024 |title=Synthesis and decay properties of isotopes of element 110: ²⁷³Ds and ²⁷⁵Ds |url= |journal=Physical Review C |volume=109 |issue=5 |pages=054307 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevC.109.054307 |bibcode=2024PhRvC.109e4307O |access-date=}} |dm=α |year=2023 |re=²³²Th(⁴⁸Ca,5n)}}

{{isotopes summary/isotope

|mn=276 |sym=Ds |hl={{sort|150|150 µs}} |ref={{cite journal |title=New isotope ²⁷⁶Ds and its decay products ²⁷²Hs and ²⁶⁸Sg from the ²³²Th + ⁴⁸Ca reaction |last1=Oganessian |first1=Yu. Ts. |last2=Utyonkov |first2=V. K. |last3=Shumeiko |first3=M. V. |display-authors=et al. |date=2023 |journal=Physical Review C |volume=108 |number=24611 |page=024611 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevC.108.024611|bibcode=2023PhRvC.108b4611O |s2cid=261170871 }}

|dm=SF, α |year=2022 |re=²³²Th(⁴⁸Ca,4n)

}}

{{isotopes summary/isotope

|mn=277 |sym=Ds |hl={{sort|3500|3.5 ms}} |ref={{cite journal |last1=Utyonkov |first1=V. K. |last2=Brewer |first2=N. T. |first3=Yu. Ts. |last3=Oganessian |first4=K. P. |last4=Rykaczewski |first5=F. Sh. |last5=Abdullin |first6=S. N. |last6=Dimitriev |first7=R. K. |last7=Grzywacz |first8=M. G. |last8=Itkis |first9=K. |last9=Miernik |first10=A. N. |last10=Polyakov |first11=J. B. |last11=Roberto |first12=R. N. |last12=Sagaidak |first13=I. V. |last13=Shirokovsky |first14=M. V. |last14=Shumeiko |first15=Yu. S. |last15=Tsyganov |first16=A. A. |last16=Voinov |first17=V. G. |last17=Subbotin |first18=A. M. |last18=Sukhov |first19=A. V. |last19=Karpov |first20=A. G. |last20=Popeko |first21=A. V. |last21=Sabel'nikov |first22=A. I. |last22=Svirikhin |first23=G. K. |last23=Vostokin |first24=J. H. |last24=Hamilton |first25=N. D. |last25=Kovrinzhykh |first26=L. |last26=Schlattauer |first27=M. A. |last27=Stoyer |first28=Z. |last28=Gan |first29=W. X. |last29=Huang |first30=L. |last30=Ma |date=30 January 2018 |title=Neutron-deficient superheavy nuclei obtained in the ²⁴⁰Pu+⁴⁸Ca reaction |journal=Physical Review C |volume=97 |issue=14320 |pages=014320 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevC.97.014320|bibcode=2018PhRvC..97a4320U |doi-access=free }}

|dm=α |year=2010 |re=²⁸⁵Fl(—,2α)

}}

{{isotopes summary/isotope

|mn=279 |sym=Ds |hl={{sort|186000|186 ms}} |ref={{cite journal |title=Investigation of ⁴⁸Ca-induced reactions with ²⁴²Pu and ²³⁸U targets at the JINR Superheavy Element Factory |journal=Physical Review C |volume=106 |number=24612 |year=2022 |first1=Yu. Ts. |last1=Oganessian |first2=V. K. |last2=Utyonkov |first3=D. |last3=Ibadullayev |page=024612 |display-authors=et al. |doi= 10.1103/PhysRevC.106.024612|bibcode=2022PhRvC.106b4612O |osti=1883808 |s2cid=251759318 }}

|dm=SF, α

|year=2003

|re=²⁸⁷Fl(—,2α)

}}

{{isotopes summary/isotope

|mn=280 |sym=Ds{{cite journal |last=Forsberg |first=U. |display-authors=et al. |title=Recoil-α-fission and recoil-α-α-fission events observed in the reaction ⁴⁸Ca + ²⁴³Am |date=2016 |journal=Nuclear Physics A |volume=953 |pages=117–138 |doi=10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2016.04.025 |arxiv=1502.03030|bibcode=2016NuPhA.953..117F |s2cid=55598355 }}

|hl={{sort|360|360 µs}} |ref={{cite journal|url=http://www.nishina.riken.jp/researcher/APR/APR047/pdf/xi.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.nishina.riken.jp/researcher/APR/APR047/pdf/xi.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=Measurement of the ²⁴⁸Cm + ⁴⁸Ca fusion reaction products at RIKEN GARIS |page=xi |journal=RIKEN Accel. Prog. Rep. |volume=47 |year=2014 |author=Morita, K.|display-authors=et al}}{{cite journal |last1=Kaji |first1=Daiya |last2=Morita |first2=Kosuke |first3=Kouji |last3=Morimoto |first4=Hiromitsu |last4=Haba |first5=Masato |last5=Asai |first6=Kunihiro |last6=Fujita |first7=Zaiguo |last7=Gan |first8=Hans |last8=Geissel |first9=Hiroo |last9=Hasebe |first10=Sigurd |last10=Hofmann |first11=MingHui |last11=Huang |first12=Yukiko |last12=Komori |first13=Long |last13=Ma |first14=Joachim |last14=Maurer |first15=Masashi |last15=Murakami |first16=Mirei |last16=Takeyama |first17=Fuyuki |last17=Tokanai |first18=Taiki |last18=Tanaka |first19=Yasuo |last19=Wakabayashi |first20=Takayuki |last20=Yamaguchi |first21=Sayaka |last21=Yamaki |first22=Atsushi |last22=Yoshida |date=2017 |title=Study of the Reaction ⁴⁸Ca + ²⁴⁸Cm → ²⁹⁶Lv* at RIKEN-GARIS |journal=Journal of the Physical Society of Japan |volume=86 |issue=3 |pages=034201–1–7 |doi=10.7566/JPSJ.86.034201 |bibcode=2017JPSJ...86c4201K }}{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.032503|title = Spectroscopy along Flerovium Decay Chains: Discovery of ²⁸⁰Ds and an Excited State in ²⁸²Cn|journal = Physical Review Letters|volume = 126|pages = 032503|year = 2021|last1 = Såmark-Roth|first1 = A.|last2 = Cox|first2 = D. M.|last3 = Rudolph|first3 = D.|last4 = Sarmento|first4 = L. G.|last5 = Carlsson|first5 = B. G.|last6 = Egido|first6 = J. L.|last7 = Golubev|first7 = P|last8 = Heery|first8 = J.|last9 = Yakushev|first9 = A.|last10 = Åberg|first10 = S.|last11 = Albers|first11 = H. M.|last12 = Albertsson|first12 = M.|last13 = Block|first13 = M.|last14 = Brand|first14 = H.|last15 = Calverley|first15 = T.|last16 = Cantemir|first16 = R.|last17 = Clark|first17 = R. M.|last18 = Düllmann|first18 = Ch. E.|last19 = Eberth|first19 = J.|last20 = Fahlander|first20 = C.|last21 = Forsberg|first21 = U.|last22 = Gates|first22 = J. M.|last23 = Giacoppo|first23 = F.|last24 = Götz|first24 = M.|last25 = Hertzberg|first25 = R.-D.|last26 = Hrabar|first26 = Y.|last27 = Jäger|first27 = E.|last28 = Judson|first28 = D.|last29 = Khuyagbaatar|first29 = J.|last30 = Kindler|first30 = B.|issue = 3|pmid = 33543956|bibcode = 2021PhRvL.126c2503S|display-authors = 29|doi-access = free|hdl = 10486/705608|hdl-access = free}}

|dm=SF |year=2021 |re=²⁸⁸Fl(—,2α)

}}

{{isotopes summary/isotope

|mn=281 |sym=Ds |hl={{sort|14000000|14 s}} |ref={{cite journal|last=Oganessian|first=Y.T.|date=2015|title=Super-heavy element research|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273327193|journal=Reports on Progress in Physics|volume=78|issue=3|pages=036301|doi=10.1088/0034-4885/78/3/036301|pmid=25746203|bibcode=2015RPPh...78c6301O|s2cid=37779526 }}

|dm=SF, α |year=2004 |re=²⁸⁹Fl(—,2α)

}}

{{isotopes summary/isotope

|mn=281m |sym=Ds{{efn|name=nc}} |hl={{sort|900000|900 ms}} |ref={{NUBASE2016|name}}

|dm=α |year=2012 |re=^293mLv(—,3α)

}}

}}

Darmstadtium has no stable or naturally occurring isotopes. Several radioactive isotopes have been synthesized in the laboratory, either by fusing two atoms or by observing the decay of heavier elements. Eleven different isotopes of darmstadtium have been reported with atomic masses 267, 269–271, 273, 275–277, and 279–281, although darmstadtium-267 is unconfirmed. Three darmstadtium isotopes, darmstadtium-270, darmstadtium-271, and darmstadtium-281, have known metastable states, although that of darmstadtium-281 is unconfirmed.{{cite journal | doi=10.1140/epja/i2012-12062-1 | volume=48 | issue=5 | pages=62 | title=The reaction ⁴⁸Ca + ²⁴⁸Cm → ²⁹⁶116^* studied at the GSI-SHIP | journal=The European Physical Journal A| year=2012 | last1=Hofmann | first1=S. | last2=Heinz | first2=S. | last3=Mann | first3=R. | last4=Maurer | first4=J. | last5=Khuyagbaatar | first5=J. | last6=Ackermann | first6=D. | last7=Antalic | first7=S. | last8=Barth | first8=W. | last9=Block | first9=M. | last10=Burkhard | first10=H. G. | last11=Comas | first11=V. F. | last12=Dahl | first12=L. | last13=Eberhardt | first13=K. | last14=Gostic | first14=J. | last15=Henderson | first15=R. A. | last16=Heredia | first16=J. A. | last17=Heßberger | first17=F. P. | last18=Kenneally | first18=J. M. | last19=Kindler | first19=B. | last20=Kojouharov | first20=I. | last21=Kratz | first21=J. V. | last22=Lang | first22=R. | last23=Leino | first23=M. | last24=Lommel | first24=B. | last25=Moody | first25=K. J. | last26=Münzenberg | first26=G. | last27=Nelson | first27=S. L. | last28=Nishio | first28=K. | last29=Popeko | first29=A. G. | last30=Runke | first30=J. | s2cid=121930293 | display-authors=29 | bibcode=2012EPJA...48...62H }} Most of these decay predominantly through alpha decay, but some undergo spontaneous fission.{{cite web |url=http://www.nndc.bnl.gov/chart/reCenter.jsp?z=110&n=163 |title=Interactive Chart of Nuclides |publisher=Brookhaven National Laboratory |author=Sonzogni, Alejandro |location=National Nuclear Data Center |access-date=2008-06-06 |archive-date=August 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801110322/https://www.nndc.bnl.gov/nudat2 |url-status=dead }}

File:Superheavy decay modes predicted (KTUY).svg predicts several superheavy nuclides within the island of stability having total half-lives exceeding one year (circled) and undergoing primarily alpha decay, peaking at ²⁹⁴Ds with an estimated half-life of 300 years.{{cite conference|last=Koura|first=H.|date=2011|title=Decay modes and a limit of existence of nuclei in the superheavy mass region|url=http://tan11.jinr.ru/pdf/10_Sep/S_2/05_Koura.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://tan11.jinr.ru/pdf/10_Sep/S_2/05_Koura.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|conference=4th International Conference on the Chemistry and Physics of the Transactinide Elements|access-date=18 November 2018}}]]

All darmstadtium isotopes are extremely unstable and radioactive; in general, the heavier isotopes are more stable than the lighter. The most stable known darmstadtium isotope, ²⁸¹Ds, is also the heaviest known darmstadtium isotope; it has a half-life of 14 seconds. The isotope ²⁷⁹Ds has a half-life of 0.18 seconds, while the unconfirmed ^281mDs has a half-life of 0.9 seconds. The remaining isotopes and metastable states have half-lives between 1 microsecond and 70 milliseconds. Some unknown darmstadtium isotopes may have longer half-lives, however.

Theoretical calculation in a quantum tunneling model reproduces the experimental alpha decay half-life data for the known darmstadtium isotopes.{{cite journal|journal=Phys. Rev. C|volume=73|issue=1|page=014612|date=2006|title=α decay half-lives of new superheavy elements|author=P. Roy Chowdhury|author2=C. Samanta|author3=D. N. Basu|name-list-style=amp|doi=10.1103/PhysRevC.73.014612|arxiv = nucl-th/0507054 |bibcode = 2006PhRvC..73a4612C |s2cid=118739116}}{{cite journal| journal=Nucl. Phys. A|volume=789|issue=1–4|pages=142–154| title=Predictions of alpha decay half lives of heavy and superheavy elements|author=C. Samanta|author2=P. Roy Chowdhury|author3=D.N. Basu|name-list-style=amp|doi=10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2007.04.001|arxiv = nucl-th/0703086 |bibcode = 2007NuPhA.789..142S |year=2007|citeseerx=10.1.1.264.8177|s2cid=7496348}} It also predicts that the undiscovered isotope ²⁹⁴Ds, which has a magic number of neutrons (184), would have an alpha decay half-life on the order of 311 years; exactly the same approach predicts a ~350-year alpha half-life for the non-magic ²⁹³Ds isotope, however.{{cite journal|journal=Phys. Rev. C|volume=77|page=044603|title=Search for long lived heaviest nuclei beyond the valley of stability|author=P. Roy Chowdhury|author2=C. Samanta|author3=D. N. Basu|name-list-style=amp|doi=10.1103/PhysRevC.77.044603|bibcode = 2008PhRvC..77d4603C|issue=4 |arxiv = 0802.3837 |year=2008|s2cid=119207807}}{{cite journal|journal=Atomic Data and Nuclear Data Tables|title=Nuclear half-lives for α -radioactivity of elements with 100 ≤ Z ≤ 130 |author=P. Roy Chowdhury |author2=C. Samanta |author3=D. N. Basu |name-list-style=amp|doi=10.1016/j.adt.2008.01.003|volume=94|bibcode = 2008ADNDT..94..781C|issue=6 |pages=781–806|arxiv = 0802.4161 |year=2008|s2cid=96718440 }}

Other than nuclear properties, no properties of darmstadtium or its compounds have been measured; this is due to its extremely limited and expensive production{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-08-28/making-new-elements-doesn-t-pay-just-ask-this-berkeley-scientist|title=Making New Elements Doesn't Pay. Just Ask This Berkeley Scientist|last=Subramanian|first=S.|website=Bloomberg Businessweek|date=August 28, 2019|access-date=2020-01-18|archive-date=November 14, 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20201114183428/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-08-28/making-new-elements-doesn-t-pay-just-ask-this-berkeley-scientist|url-status=live}} and the fact that darmstadtium (and its parents) decays very quickly. Properties of darmstadtium metal remain unknown and only predictions are available.

Darmstadtium is the eighth member of the 6d series of transition metals, and should be much like the platinum group metals.{{cite journal|doi=10.1595/147106708X297486|title=The Periodic Table and the Platinum Group Metals|date=2008|last1=Griffith|first1=W. P.|journal=Platinum Metals Review|volume=52|issue=2|pages=114–119|doi-access=free}} Calculations on its ionization potentials and atomic and ionic radii are similar to that of its lighter homologue platinum, thus implying that darmstadtium's basic properties will resemble those of the other group 10 elements, nickel, palladium, and platinum.

Prediction of the probable chemical properties of darmstadtium has not received much attention recently. Darmstadtium should be a very noble metal. The predicted standard reduction potential for the Ds²⁺/Ds couple is 1.7 V. Based on the most stable oxidation states of the lighter group 10 elements, the most stable oxidation states of darmstadtium are predicted to be the +6, +4, and +2 states; however, the neutral state is predicted to be the most stable in aqueous solutions. In comparison, only platinum is known to show the maximum oxidation state in the group, +6, while the most stable state is +2 for both nickel and palladium. It is further expected that the maximum oxidation states of elements from bohrium (element 107) to darmstadtium (element 110) may be stable in the gas phase but not in aqueous solution. Darmstadtium hexafluoride (DsF₆) is predicted to have very similar properties to its lighter homologue platinum hexafluoride (PtF₆), having very similar electronic structures and ionization potentials.{{cite journal |last1=Rosen |first1=A. |last2=Fricke |first2=B. |last3=Morovic |first3=T. |last4=Ellis |first4=D. E. |title=Relativistic molecular calculations of superheavy molecules |date=1979 |journal=Journal de Physique Colloques |volume=40 |pages=C4–218–C4–219 |doi=10.1051/jphyscol:1979467 |s2cid=73583197 |url=http://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:34-2008091023676 |access-date=May 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211224173609/https://kobra.uni-kassel.de/handle/123456789/2008091023676 |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |last1=Waber |first1=J. T. |last2=Averill |first2=F. W. |date=1974|journal=J. Chem. Phys. |volume=60 |pages=4460–70 |doi=10.1063/1.1680924 |title=Molecular orbitals of PtF6 and E110 F6 calculated by the self-consistent multiple scattering Xα method |issue=11|bibcode = 1974JChPh..60.4466W }} It is also expected to have the same octahedral molecular geometry as PtF₆.{{citation |last1=Thayer |first1=John S. |title=Relativistic Methods for Chemists |volume=10 |date=2010 |page=82 |doi=10.1007/978-1-4020-9975-5_2|chapter=Relativistic Effects and the Chemistry of the Heavier Main Group Elements |isbn=978-1-4020-9974-8 |series=Challenges and Advances in Computational Chemistry and Physics }} Other predicted darmstadtium compounds are darmstadtium carbide (DsC) and darmstadtium tetrachloride (DsCl₄), both of which are expected to behave like their lighter homologues. Unlike platinum, which preferentially forms a cyanide complex in its +2 oxidation state, Pt(CN)₂, darmstadtium is expected to preferentially remain in its neutral state and form {{chem|Ds(CN)|2|2-}} instead, forming a strong Ds–C bond with some multiple bond character.{{cite journal |last1=Demissie |first1=Taye B. |last2=Ruud |first2=Kenneth |date=25 February 2017 |title=Darmstadtium, roentgenium, and copernicium form strong bonds with cyanide |journal=International Journal of Quantum Chemistry |volume=2017 |pages=e25393 |doi=10.1002/qua.25393|url=https://munin.uit.no/bitstream/10037/13632/4/article.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://munin.uit.no/bitstream/10037/13632/4/article.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |hdl=10037/13632 |hdl-access=free }}

Darmstadtium is expected to be a solid under normal conditions and to crystallize in the body-centered cubic structure, unlike its lighter congeners which crystallize in the face-centered cubic structure, because it is expected to have different electron charge densities from them. It should be a very heavy metal with a density of around 26–27 g/cm³. In comparison, the densest known element that has had its density measured, osmium, has a density of only 22.61 g/cm³.

The outer electron configuration of darmstadtium is calculated to be 6d⁸ 7s², which obeys the Aufbau principle and does not follow platinum's outer electron configuration of 5d⁹ 6s¹. This is due to the relativistic stabilization of the 7s² electron pair over the whole seventh period, so that none of the elements from 104 to 112 are expected to have electron configurations violating the Aufbau principle. The atomic radius of darmstadtium is expected to be around 132 pm.

Unambiguous determination of the chemical characteristics of darmstadtium has yet to have been established{{cite journal |last1=Düllmann |first1=Christoph E. |s2cid=100778491 |date=2012 |title=Superheavy elements at GSI: a broad research program with element 114 in the focus of physics and chemistry |journal=Radiochimica Acta |volume=100 |issue=2 |pages=67–74 |doi=10.1524/ract.2011.1842 }} due to the short half-lives of darmstadtium isotopes and a limited number of likely volatile compounds that could be studied on a very small scale. One of the few darmstadtium compounds that are likely to be sufficiently volatile is darmstadtium hexafluoride ({{chem|DsF|6}}), as its lighter homologue platinum hexafluoride ({{chem|PtF|6}}) is volatile above 60 °C and therefore the analogous compound of darmstadtium might also be sufficiently volatile; a volatile octafluoride ({{chem|DsF|8}}) might also be possible. For chemical studies to be carried out on a transactinide, at least four atoms must be produced, the half-life of the isotope used must be at least 1 second, and the rate of production must be at least one atom per week. Even though the half-life of ²⁸¹Ds, the most stable confirmed darmstadtium isotope, is 14 seconds, long enough to perform chemical studies, another obstacle is the need to increase the rate of production of darmstadtium isotopes and allow experiments to carry on for weeks or months so that statistically significant results can be obtained. Separation and detection must be carried out continuously to separate out the darmstadtium isotopes and have automated systems experiment on the gas-phase and solution chemistry of darmstadtium, as the yields for heavier elements are predicted to be smaller than those for lighter elements; some of the separation techniques used for bohrium and hassium could be reused. However, the experimental chemistry of darmstadtium has not received as much attention as that of the heavier elements from copernicium to livermorium.{{cite journal |last=Eichler |first=Robert |date=2013 |title=First foot prints of chemistry on the shore of the Island of Superheavy Elements|journal=Journal of Physics: Conference Series|volume=420|issue=1 |pages=012003 |doi=10.1088/1742-6596/420/1/012003|arxiv = 1212.4292 |bibcode = 2013JPhCS.420a2003E |s2cid=55653705 }}

The more neutron-rich darmstadtium isotopes are the most stable and are thus more promising for chemical studies. However, they can only be produced indirectly from the alpha decay of heavier elements,{{cite journal|doi=10.1103/PhysRevC.69.054607|title=Measurements of cross sections for the fusion-evaporation reactions ²⁴⁴Pu(⁴⁸Ca,xn)^292−x114 and ²⁴⁵Cm(⁴⁸Ca,xn)^293−x116|year=2004|journal=Physical Review C|volume=69|bibcode=2004PhRvC..69e4607O|issue=5|pages=054607|last1=Oganessian|first1=Y. T.|last2=Utyonkov|first2=V.|last3=Lobanov|first3=Y.|last4=Abdullin|first4=F.|last5=Polyakov|first5=A.|last6=Shirokovsky|first6=I.|last7=Tsyganov|first7=Y.|last8=Gulbekian|first8=G.|last9=Bogomolov|first9=S.|first10=B.|last10=Gikal|first11=A.|last11=Mezentsev|first12=S.|last12=Iliev|first13=V.|last13=Subbotin|first14=A.|last14=Sukhov|first15=A.|last15=Voinov|first16=G.|last16=Buklanov|first17=K.|last17=Subotic|first18=V.|last18=Zagrebaev|first19=M.|last19=Itkis|first20=J.|last20=Patin|first21=K.|last21=Moody|first22=J.|last22=Wild|first23=M.|last23=Stoyer|first24=N.|last24=Stoyer|first25=D.|last25=Shaughnessy|first26=J.|last26=Kenneally|first27=R.|last27=Lougheed|url=http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRC/V69/E054607/|display-authors=10|doi-access=free|access-date=June 6, 2020|archive-date=December 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221216132958/https://link.aps.org/abstract/PRC/V69/E054607/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news

|author=Public Affairs Department

|date=26 October 2010

|title=Six New Isotopes of the Superheavy Elements Discovered: Moving Closer to Understanding the Island of Stability

|url=http://newscenter.lbl.gov/news-releases/2010/10/26/six-new-isotopes

|publisher=Berkeley Lab

|access-date=2011-04-25

|archive-date=July 5, 2021

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210705094813/https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2010/10/26/six-new-isotopes/

|url-status=live

}}{{cite journal

|last1=Yeremin |first1=A. V.

|s2cid=4399615

|display-authors=etal

|date=1999

|title=Synthesis of nuclei of the superheavy element 114 in reactions induced by ⁴⁸Ca

|journal=Nature

|volume=400 |issue=6741 |pages=242–245

|bibcode=1999Natur.400..242O

|doi=10.1038/22281

}} and indirect synthesis methods are not as favourable for chemical studies as direct synthesis methods. The more neutron-rich isotopes ²⁷⁶Ds and ²⁷⁷Ds might be produced directly in the reaction between thorium-232 and calcium-48, but the yield was expected to be low.{{Cite web|url=http://www1.jinr.ru/Reports/Reports_eng_arh.html|title=JINR Publishing Department: Annual Reports (Archive)|website=www1.jinr.ru|access-date=August 12, 2009|archive-date=May 12, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512195040/http://www1.jinr.ru/Reports/Reports_eng_arh.html|url-status=live}}{{cite journal|arxiv=0803.1117|doi=10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2008.11.003|title=Production of heavy and superheavy nuclei in massive fusion reactions|date=2009|author=Feng, Z|journal=Nuclear Physics A|volume=816|issue=1|page=33|last2=Jin|first2=G.|last3=Li|first3=J.|last4=Scheid|first4=W.|bibcode = 2009NuPhA.816...33F |s2cid=18647291}} Following several unsuccessful attempts, ²⁷⁶Ds was produced in this reaction in 2022 and observed to have a half-life less than a millisecond and a low yield, in agreement with predictions. Additionally, ²⁷⁷Ds was successfully synthesized using indirect methods (as a granddaughter of ²⁸⁵Fl) and found to have a short half-life of 3.5 ms, not long enough to perform chemical studies. The only known darmstadtium isotope with a half-life long enough for chemical research is ²⁸¹Ds, which would have to be produced as the granddaughter of ²⁸⁹Fl.{{cite book |chapter=Synthesis of Superheavy Elements |last1=Moody |first1=Ken |editor1-first=Matthias |editor1-last=Schädel |editor2-first=Dawn |editor2-last=Shaughnessy |title=The Chemistry of Superheavy Elements |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |edition=2nd |pages=24–8 |isbn=9783642374661|date=2013-11-30 }}

• Island of stability

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• [http://www.periodicvideos.com/videos/110.htm Darmstadtium] at The Periodic Table of Videos (University of Nottingham)

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