Oganesson: A Noble Gas Element That Is Neither Noble Nor a Gas

Oganesson (Og) is the last entry into the Periodic Table completing the seventh period of elements and group 18 of the noble gases. Only five atoms of Og have been successfully produced in nuclear collision experiments, with an estimate half‐life for 294118 Og of 0.69+0.64-0.22 ms.[1] With such a short lifetime, chemical and physical properties inevitably have to come from accurate relativistic quantum theory. Here, we employ two complementary computational approaches, namely parallel tempering Monte‐Carlo (PTMC) simulations and first‐principles thermodynamic integration (TI), both calibrated against a highly accurate coupled‐cluster reference to pin‐down the melting and boiling points of this super‐heavy element. In excellent agreement, these approaches show Og to be a solid at ambient conditions with a melting point of ≈325 K. In contrast, calculations in the nonrelativistic limit reveal a melting point for Og of 220 K, suggesting a gaseous state as expected for a typical noble gas element. Accordingly, relativistic effects shift the solid‐to‐liquid phase transition by about 100 K. Is the latest addition to the periodic table an actual or a formal noble gas? Two complementary state‐of‐the‐art approaches reveal in unison that Og is a solid at ambient conditions. And with predicted melting and boiling points of 325±15 K and 450±10 K, not even particularly volatile.