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Lithium

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Lithium

Atomic Mass	6.941
Electron Configuration	[He]2s1
Oxidation States	+1
Year Discovered	1817

Lithium

Atomic Mass	6.941
Electron Configuration	[He]2s1
Oxidation States	+1
Year Discovered	1817

Identifiers

Element Name	Lithium
Element Symbol	Li
InChI	InChI=1S/Li
InChIKey	WHXSMMKQMYFTQS-UHFFFAOYSA-N

Properties

Atomic Weight	[6.938, 6.997] 6.941 6.94 [6.938,6.997]
Electron Configuration	[He]2s¹
Atomic Radius	Van der Waals Atomic Radius :182 pm (Van der Waals) Empirical Atomic Radius :145pm (Empirical) Covalent Atomic Radius :128(7) pm (Covalent)
Oxidation States	+1 +1 (a strongly basic oxide)
Ground Level	²S_1/2
Ionization Energy	5.392 eV 5.391714996 ± 0.000000022 eV
Electronegativity	Pauling Scale Electronegativity :0.98(Pauling Scale) Allen Scale Electronegativity :0.912(Allen Scale)
Electron Affinity	0.618eV 0.62eV
Atomic Spectra	Lines Holdings Levels Holdings
Physical Description	Solid
Element Classification	Metal
Element Period Number	2
Element Group Number	1 - Alkali Metal
Density	0.534 grams per cubic centimeter
Melting Point	453.65 K (180.50°C or 356.90°F) 180.5°C
Boiling Point	1615 K (1342°C or 2448°F) 1330°C
Estimated Crustal Abundance	2.0×10¹ milligrams per kilogram
Estimated Oceanic Abundance	1.8×10^-1 milligrams per liter

History

The name derives from the Latin lithos for "stone" because lithium was thought to exist only in minerals at that time. It was discovered by the Swedish mineralogist Johan August Arfwedson in 1818 in the mineral petalite LiAl(Si2O5)2. Lithium was isolated in 1855 by the German chemists Robert Wilhelm Bunsen and Augustus Matthiessen.

Lithium was discovered in the mineral petalite (LiAl(Si2O5)2) by Johann August Arfvedson in 1817. It was first isolated by William Thomas Brande and Sir Humphrey Davy through the electrolysis of lithium oxide (Li2O). Today, larger amounts of the metal are obtained through the electrolysis of lithium chloride (LiCl). Lithium is not found free in nature and makes up only 0.0007% of the earth's crust.

From the Greek word lithos, stone. Discovered by Arfvedson in 1817. Lithium is the lightest of all metals, with a density only about half that of water.

Historical Atomic Weights

Year	Atomic Weight (uncertainty) [u]	Reference
2009	[6.938, 6.997]	https://doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REP-10-09-14
1983	6.941(2)	https://doi.org/10.1351/pac198456060653
1969	6.941(3)	https://doi.org/10.1351/pac197021010091
1961	6.939	https://doi.org/10.1021/ja00881a001
1925	6.940	https://doi.org/10.1039/CT9252700913
1911	6.94	https://doi.org/10.1021/ja01928a001
1909	7.00	https://doi.org/10.1021/ja01931a001
1902	7.03	https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01370337

Historical Isotopic Abundances

Year	Isotope	Abundance (uncertainty)	Reference
2013	⁶Li	[0.019, 0.078]	https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2015-0503
2013	⁷Li	[0.922, 0.981]	https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2015-0503
1997	⁶Li	0.0759(4)	https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199870010217
1997	⁷Li	0.9241(4)	https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199870010217
1979	⁶Li	0.075(2)	https://doi.org/10.1351/pac198052102349
1979	⁷Li	0.925(2)	https://doi.org/10.1351/pac198052102349
1975	⁶Li	0.075	https://doi.org/10.1351/pac197647010075
1975	⁷Li	0.925	https://doi.org/10.1351/pac197647010075

Users

Many uses have been found for lithium and its compounds. Lithium has the highest specific heat of any solid element and is used in heat transfer applications. It is used to make special glasses and ceramics, including the Mount Palomar telescope's 200 inch mirror. Lithium is the lightest known metal and can be alloyed with aluminium, copper, manganese, and cadmium to make strong, lightweight metals for aircraft. Lithium hydroxide (LiOH) is used to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere of spacecraft. Lithium stearate (LiC18H35O2) is used as a general purpose and high temperature lubricant. Lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) is used as a drug to treat manic depression disorder.

Lithium reacts with water, but not as violently as sodium.

Since World War II, the production of lithium metal and its compounds has increased greatly. Because the metal has the highest specific heat of any solid element, it has found use in heat transfer applications; however, it is corrosive and requires special handling. The metal has been used as an alloying agent, is of interest in synthesis of organic compounds, and has nuclear applications. It ranks as a leading contender as a battery anode material as it has a high electrochemical potential. Lithium is used in special glasses and ceramics. The glass for the 200-inch telescope at Mt. Palomar contains lithium as a minor ingredient. Lithium chloride is one of the most hygroscopic materials known, and it, as well as lithium bromide, is used in air conditioning and industrial drying systems. Lithium stearate is used as an all-purpose and high-temperature lubricant. Other lithium compounds are used in dry cells and storage batteries. Lithium carbonate is used for the treatment of bipolar disease and other mental illness conditions.

Sources

It does not occur freely in nature; combined, it is found in small units in nearly all igneous rocks and in many mineral springs. Lepidolite, spodumene, petalite, and amblygonite are the more important minerals containing it.

Lithium is presently being recovered from brines of Searles Lake, in California, and from those in Nevada. Large deposits of quadramene are found in North Carolina. The metal is produced electrolytically from the fused chloride. Lithium is silvery in appearance, much like Na, K, and other members of the alkali metal series. It reacts with water, but not as vigorously as sodium. Lithium imparts a beautiful crimson color to a flame, but when the metal burns strongly, the flame is a dazzling white.

Compounds

See more information at the Lithium compound page.

Element Forms

CID	Name	Formula	SMILES	Molecular Weight
3028194	lithium	Li	[Li]	7.0
28486	lithium(1+)	Li+	[Li+]	7.0
6337039	lithium-6	Li	[6Li]	6.01512289
11564465	lithium-7	Li	[7Li]	7.01600343
6337552	lithium-9	Li	[9Li]	9.026790

Isotopes

Stable Isotope Count	2

Isotopes in Earth/Planetary Science

Because molecules, atoms, and ions of the stable isotopes of lithium possess slightly different physical and chemical properties, they commonly will be fractionated during physical, chemical, and biological processes, giving rise to variations in isotopic abundances and in atomic weights. Natural terrestrial materials show a substantial variation in lithium isotopic abundance (Fig. IUPAC.3.1), and these natural isotopic abundances have been used to determine sources of dissolved lithium and to investigate environmental processes [13], [35].

Variations in isotope-amount ratiosn(7Li)/n(6Li) can help determine the source of some water. Because the relative abundances of lithium isotopes can change during hydrothermal processes, isotopic analysis of lithium in water can help distinguish water derived from marine sedimentary rocks from water derived from hydrothermally altered igneous rocks (Fig. IUPAC.3.2) [36], [37].

Fig. IUPAC.3.1: Variation in atomic weight with isotopic composition of selected lithium-bearing materials (modified from [13], [17]).

Fig. IUPAC.3.2: Diagram of submarine hydrothermal vent processes. (Image Source: Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) [38].

[13] M. W. Wieser, T. B. Coplen. Pure Appl Chem.83, 359 (2011).

[17] T. B. Coplen, J. A. Hopple, J. K. Böhlke, H. S. Peiser, S. E. Rieder, H. R. Krouse, K. J. R. Rosman, T. Ding, R. D. Vocke, K. Revesz, A. Lamberty, P. D. P. Taylor, P. D. Bièvre. United States Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report, 01-4222, (2002).

[35] H. P. Qi, T. B. Coplen, Q. Z. Wang, Y. H. Wang. Anal. Chem.69, 4076 (1997).

[36] T. D. Bullen, Y. K. Kharaka. “Isotopic composition of Sr, Nd, and Li in thermal waters from the Norris-Mammoth corridor, Yellowstone National Park and surrounding region”, in Water-Rock Interaction. in 7th International Symposium on Water-Rock Interaction, Rotterdam, Balkema Publishers (1992).

[37] E. Caldwell. Resources on Isotopes-Periodic Table-Lithium, U.S. Geological Surve (2011), November 3; http://wwwrcamnl.wr.usgs.gov/isoig/period/li_iig.html.

[38] Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory Earth-Ocean Interactions Program. Vent Fluid Chemistry, Diagram of Hydrothermal Vent Processes, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2014), Feb. 16; http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/eoi/chemistry/fluid.html.

Isotopes in Industry

7Li, as hydroxide monohydrate (7LiOH•H2O), is used to maintain the pH level of the coolant used in pressurized water reactors in the nuclear power industry [39], [40]. Lithium plays a role in the construction of a thermonuclear bomb, which differs from a fission weapon in that it uses the energy released when two light atomic nuclei (i.e. deuterium (2H) and tritium (3H)) fuse to form helium and a high energy neutronvia this DT reaction. 6Li is used, in the form of 6Li deuteride (6Li 2H), as fusion fuel capable of producing tritium when bombarded with neutrons within the weapon via the reaction 6Li (n, 3H) 4He [41].

Li-based laboratory reagents have found their way into surface water and can be easily identified. Although a military secret in the 1950s, it is now known that substantial amounts of 6Li (normally having an isotopic abundance of 0.076) were removed from chemical reagents to be used in nuclear weapon development. Reagents containing the remaining lithium depleted in 6Li (having an isotopic abundance as low as 0.025) were sold to both chemical manufacturers and to laboratory chemists for their use [42]. The distinctive isotopic signature of depleted 6Li, having a n(7Li)/n(6Li) ratio of 39, compared to a ratio of 12 in naturally occurring terrestrial materials, enables easier detection of this lithium source in polluted waterways and the environment [35], [37].

[35] H. P. Qi, T. B. Coplen, Q. Z. Wang, Y. H. Wang. Anal. Chem.69, 4076 (1997).

[37] E. Caldwell. Resources on Isotopes-Periodic Table-Lithium, U.S. Geological Surve (2011), November 3; http://wwwrcamnl.wr.usgs.gov/isoig/period/li_iig.html.

[39] International Atomic Energy Agency. Assessment and Management of Ageing of Major Nuclear Power Plant Components Important to Safety, IAEA-TECDOC-1361. 235 (2003).

[40] F. Nordmann. “Aspects on chemistry in french nuclear power plants”, in 14th International Conference on the Properties of Water and Steam in Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan.

[41] FUSION EXPO. Controlled Fusion: The Energy Option for the 21st Century, FUSION EXPO (2011), November 6; http://www.fusion-eur.org/fusion_cd/popu.htm.

[42] N. E. Holden. Chem. Int.32(1), 12 (2010).

Isotopes in Medicine

7Li is a decay product of the 10B (neutron, alpha) 7Li reaction, which has a peak value for room temperature neutrons. Brain tumor cells are typically found some 5 to 7 cm below the surface of the skull. After 10B has been introduced to or entered the tumor cells, a beam of neutrons of energy slightly above room temperature is introduced to the affected areas. The energy of these neutrons is reduced to room temperature by the time they react with the 10B, which then disintegrates into high energy charged particles (7Li and 4He), which deposit their kinetic energy in nearby (predominately cancerous) cells and destroys them. Any adjacent normal cells are unaffected [43].

[43] R. F. Barth. J. Neurooncol.62, 1 (2003).

Isotope Mass and Abundance

Isotope	Atomic Mass (uncertainty) [u]	Abundance (uncertainty)
^6Li	6.015 122 89(1)	[0.019, 0.078]
^7Li	7.016 003 44(3)	[0.922, 0.981]

Isotope	Atomic Mass (uncertainty) [u]	Abundance (uncertainty)
⁶Li	6.0151228874(16)	0.0759(4)
⁷Li	7.0160034366(45)	0.9241(4)

Atomic Mass, Half Life, and Decay

Nuclide	Atomic Mass and Uncertainty [u]	Half Life and Uncertainty	Discovery Year	Decay Modes, Intensities and Uncertainties [%]
³Li	3.030775 ± 0.002147 [Estimated]	p-Unstable		p ?
⁴Li	4.027185561 ± 0.000227733	91 ys ± 9	1965	p=100%
⁵Li	5.012537800 ± 0.000053677	370 ys ± 30	1941	p=100%
⁶Li	6.01512288742 ± 0.00000000155	Stable	1921	IS=4.85±17.1%
⁷Li	7.01600343426 ± 0.0000000045	Stable	1921	IS=95.15±17.1%
⁸Li	8.022486244 ± 0.00000005	838.7 ms ± 0.3	1935	β^-=100%; β^-α=100%
⁹Li	9.026790191 ± 0.0000002	178.2 ms ± 0.4	1951	β^-=100%; β^-n=50.5±1%
¹⁰Li	10.035483453 ± 0.000013656	2.0 zs ± 0.5	1975	n=100%
¹⁰Li^m	10.035483453 ± 0.000013656	3.7 zs ± 1.5	1994	IT=100%
¹⁰Liⁿ	10.035483453 ± 0.000013656	1.35 zs ± 0.24	1993	IT=100%
¹¹Li	11.043723581 ± 0.00000066	8.75 ms ± 0.06	1966	β^-=100%; β^-n=86.3±0.9%; β^-2n=4.1±0.4%; β^-3n=1.9±0.2%; β^-α=1.7±0.3%; β^-d=0.0130±1.3%; β^-t=0.0093±0.8%
¹²Li	12.052613942 ± 0.000032213	Not-specified	2008	n ?
¹³Li	13.061171503 ± 0.00007515	3.3 zs ± 1.2	2008	2n=100%

Information Sources

1. PubChem
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
2. Atomic Mass Data Center (AMDC), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
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Li
https://www-nds.iaea.org/amdc/
3. IUPAC Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights (CIAAW)
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http://www.ciaaw.org/bylaws.htm

Lithium
https://www.ciaaw.org/lithium.htm
4. Jefferson Lab, U.S. Department of Energy
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Please see citation and linking information https https://www.jlab.org/privacy-and-security-notice

Lithium
https://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele003.html
5. Los Alamos National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy
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https://about.lanl.gov/lanl-resources/web-policies/

Lithium
https://periodic.lanl.gov/3.shtml
6. NIST Physical Measurement Laboratory
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https://www.nist.gov/pml/database-disclaimer

Lithium
https://physics.nist.gov/cgi-bin/Elements/elInfo.pl?element=3
7. IUPAC Periodic Table of the Elements and Isotopes (IPTEI)
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Copyright (c) 2020 International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) contribution within Pubchem is provided under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license, unless otherwise stated.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2015-0703
8. PubChem Elements
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https://www.nlm.nih.gov/copyright.html

Lithium

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