Isotopes of gold

Isotope data

Gold is monoisotopic consisting completely of 197Au. However there are a number of radioisotopes, some of which are listed.

The gold isotope 198Au is used for treating cancer and other conditions. In the form of a gold colloid, 198Au has a diagnostic use for liver imaging and a therapeutic use in treatment of widespread abdominal carcinomatosis with ascites; carcinomatosis of pleura with effusion; lymphomas; interstitially in metastatic tumour. While there is a certain risk from the β-decay of 198Au the calculation is that the benefits outweight the risks. Additional information.

Naturally occurring isotopes

This table shows information about naturally occuring isotopes, their atomic masses, their natural abundances, their nuclear spins, and their magnetic moments. Further data for radioisotopes (radioactive isotopes) of gold are listed (including any which occur naturally) below.
Isotope Atomic mass (ma/u) Natural abundance (atom %) Nuclear spin (I) Magnetic moment (μ/μN)
197Au 196.966543 (4) 100 3/2 0.148159

Isotopic abundances of Au
In the above picture, the most intense ion is set to 100% since this corresponds best to the output from a mass spectrometer. This is not to be confused with the relative percentage isotope abundances which total 100% for all the naturally occurring isotopes.

Radiosotope data

Further data for naturally occuring isotopes of gold are listed above. This table gives information about some radiosotopes of gold, their masses, their half-lives, their modes of decay, their nuclear spins, and their nuclear magnetic moments.
Isotope Mass Half-life Mode of decay Nuclear spin Nuclear magnetic moment
194Au 193.96534 1.64 d EC to 194Pt 1 0.075
195Au 194.965017 186.12 d EC to 195Pt 3/2 0.149
196Au 196.966551 6.18 d EC to 196Pt; β- to 196Hg 2 0.591
198Au 197.968225 2.694 d β- to 198Hg 2 0.5934
199Au 198.968748 3.14 d β- to 199Hg 3/2 0.2715

Sheffield ChemPuter isotope pattern calculator

You can use WebElements to calculate an isotope pattern for an arbitrary chemical formula:

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References

  1. Naturally occurring isotope abundances: Commission on Atomic Weights and Isotopic Abundances report for the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry in Isotopic Compositions of the Elements 1989, Pure and Applied Chemistry, 1998, 70, 217. [Copyright 1998 IUPAC]
  2. For further information about radioisotopes see Jonghwa Chang's (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) Table of the Nuclides
  3. Masses, nuclear spins, and magnetic moments: I. Mills, T. Cvitas, K. Homann, N. Kallay, and K. Kuchitsu in Quantities, Units and Symbols in Physical Chemistry, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, UK, 1988. [Copyright 1988 IUPAC]

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