Main group element chemistry at the millennium

Abstract

Some of the highlights of main group element chemistry during the past decade are reviewed. There are now 47 elements in the s- and p-blocks of the Periodic Table, ranging from the oldest (and lightest) element in the universe, hydrogen, to the most recently synthesised (and heaviest) known element, ²⁹³[118], which was first reported in 1999. On the basis of the astonishing discoveries and developments that have been made in chemistry during the first two millennia of the present era, the only safe prediction for the third millennium is that there will be even more spectacular, perplexing, exhilarating, satisfying and potentially useful discoveries in main group element chemistry to be expected in the years that lie ahead.