Complicated Compound

Campaigner

Posers and Puzzles

04 Apr 12

Campaigner

Joined: 06 Apr 08
Moves: 89259

04 Apr 12

Does anyone know which compound has the most elements?

tomtom232

Joined: 15 Jun 06
Moves: 16334

04 Apr 12

Originally posted by Campaigner
Does anyone know which compound has the most elements?

Nope.

Campaigner

Joined: 06 Apr 08
Moves: 89259

16 Apr 12

Darn!

JS357

Joined: 29 Dec 08
Moves: 6788

16 Apr 12

2 edits

Originally posted by Campaigner
Does anyone know which compound has the most elements?

It's likely to be a mineral if you allow ionic or semi-ionic compounds.

One candidate is magbasite, KBa(Al,Sc)(Mg,Fe++)6Si6O20F2 which has nine different elements.

Look around at:

http://webmineral.com/chemical.shtml

edit: Traskite (Ba,Ca)9(Fe++,Mn)2Ti2(SiO3)12(OH,Cl,F)6•6(H2O) has ten.

edit: or CAN have that many.

forkedknight

Defend the Universe

127.0.0.1

Joined: 18 Dec 03
Moves: 16687

18 Apr 12

This one's pretty complicated, also 10 elements:

http://webmineral.com/data/Zirsilite-(Ce).shtml

Ponderable

chemist

Linkenheim

Joined: 22 Apr 05
Moves: 669995

19 Apr 12

Originally posted by Campaigner
Does anyone know which compound has the most elements?

You need to define "compound".

One definition counts only such assemblies as compounds which have chemical bonds between them. So this definition would exclude most minerals.

One definition is only aksing after the structural homogenity and counts "ion compounds2 as compunds. However there won't be "molecules" of such "compounds"...

A comparatively small compound with six sorts of atoms is Trisodium 4-carboxy-5-mercapto-3-hydroxy-isothiazole. You can probably halogenize it and add more atoms to it...

iamatiger

Joined: 26 Apr 03
Moves: 26771

20 Apr 12

There is no upper limit on the size of a chemical compound (DNA is a compound). You could theoretically have a carbon chain and attach different elements all along it with suitable arrangements of atoms to join them on.

Shallow Blue

Joined: 18 Jan 07
Moves: 12477

21 Apr 12

Originally posted by iamatiger
There is no upper limit on the size of a chemical compound (DNA is a compound). You could theoretically have a carbon chain and attach different elements all along it with suitable arrangements of atoms to join them on.

There's still an upper limit to the number of different elements you can attach, though. No matter how long your carbon backbone, in real life you're not allowed to chain dilithium or unobtainium to it.

Richard

iamatiger

Joined: 26 Apr 03
Moves: 26771

21 Apr 12

1 edit

:-)
The question was "which compound has the most unique elements?", not "is there any limit to the number of different elements that can be in one compound?"

I was pointing out why think there is no unique compound with the most elements. Potentially all the elements with reasonably long half lives (to allow time to incorporate them) could be included in an infinite number of monster compounds, none of them with any name.

JS357

Joined: 29 Dec 08
Moves: 6788

23 Apr 12

Originally posted by forkedknight
This one's pretty complicated, also 10 elements:

http://webmineral.com/data/Zirsilite-(Ce).shtml

Cool.

I think the convention "(Ce, Na)3" in that chemical formula(Na,[ ])12(Ce, Na)3Ca6Mn3Zr3Nb(Si25O73)(OH)3(CO3).H2O means that there are in each crystal unit, three atoms that can be Ce3, Ce2Na, CeNa2, or Na3. So it could vary. Any mineralogists in the house?

BTW to another poster: I think the question is broad enough to allow ionic or semi-ionic compounds (semi-ionic: e.g. sodium sulfate has the O covalently bonded to the S but the sulfate ion they form is ionically bonded to the Na. So in solution, the S-O bonds do not dissociate.)