GROUP 8 TRANSITION METAL

Ruthenium is a hard and lustrous transition metal. It’s also one of the rarest metals on the planet (it’s only the 74th most abundant element in Earth’s crust). Its properties are similar to its near-neighbors rhodium (Rh), palladium (Pd), osmium (Os), iridium (Ir), and platinum (Pt). As a result, these elements tend to be found together in natural ores. They collectively comprise the commonly named platinum group—a 3 × 2 matrix on the periodic table with ruthenium positioned at its top-left corner.

Ruthenium is central in organic chemistry to a family of organometallic catalysts that elegantly facilitates the rearrangement of the carbon-carbon double bonds (C=C) in a pair of alkenes. This reaction is known as alkene metathesis. During the reaction, the atoms or groups of atoms bonded to the carbons of the respective double bonds are redistributed (or swapped around) to yield a different pair of alkene products. These Grubbs catalysts contain ruthenium bonded to an electron-deficient carbon center (known as a carbene). Their versatility in making new carbon-carbon double bonds led to their developers—Yves Chauvin, Richard Schrock, and Robert Grubbs—being awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Ruthenium’s renowned inertness and corrosion resistance make it well-suited for use in surgical instruments in hospital operating rooms.

When used as an additive, ruthenium improves the corrosion resistance of deep-water titanium (Ti) pipes.

Ruthenium’s hardness, durability, and all-around wear resistance are exploited to make electrical contacts. The element is also found in chip resistors and in high-capacity magnetic hard drives.