Plutonium tetroxide

Plutonium tetraoxide
Names
	Other names Plutonium(VIII) oxide
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)	Interactive image;
	InChI InChI=1S/O2.2O.Pu/c1-2;;;/q-1;;;+1 Key: KOOAIBAKTCSZCC-UHFFFAOYSA-N;
	SMILES O=[Pu+]=O.O=[O-];
Properties
Chemical formula	PuO4
Molar mass	308 g·mol−1
Solubility in water	insoluble (hydrates)
	Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa). Infobox references

Plutonium tetraoxide is an inorganic binary compound of plutonium and oxygen with the chemical formula PuO₄.¹ This is an exotic, higher-order oxide of plutonium where the metal is in the rare +8 oxidation state.²³ The compound is volatile and very hard to isolate.⁴⁵

Theoretical calculations show that the molecule has the structure (O=Pu=O)⁺(O₂)^-.²

References

May, Iain; Bryan, N. D.; Alvares, Rebeca (31 October 2007). Recent Advances In Actinide Science. Royal Society of Chemistry. p. 275. ISBN 978-1-84755-536-6. Retrieved 11 January 2026.
Huang, Wei; Xu, Wen-Hua; Su, Jing; Schwarz, W. H. E.; Li, Jun (16 December 2013). "Oxidation states, geometries, and electronic structures of plutonium tetroxide PuO4 isomers: is octavalent Pu viable?". Inorganic Chemistry. 52 (24): 14237–14245. doi:10.1021/ic402170q. ISSN 1520-510X. PMID 24274785.
Huang, Wei; Pyykkö, Pekka; Li, Jun (8 September 2015). "Is Octavalent Pu(VIII) Possible? Mapping the Plutonium Oxyfluoride Series PuO(n)F(8-2n) (n = 0-4)". Inorganic Chemistry. 54 (17): 8825–8831. doi:10.1021/acs.inorgchem.5b01540. ISSN 1520-510X. PMID 26309065.
Zaitsevskii, Andréi; Mosyagin, Nikolai S.; Titov, Anatoly V.; Kiselev, Yuri M. (21 July 2013). "Relativistic density functional theory modeling of plutonium and americium higher oxide molecules". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 139 (3) 034307. Bibcode:2013JChPh.139c4307Z. doi:10.1063/1.4813284. PMID 23883027. Retrieved 11 January 2026.
Koordinat︠s︡ionnai︠a︡ khimii︠a︡ (in Russian). Nauka. 2002. p. 260. Retrieved 11 January 2026.

[1] May, Iain; Bryan, N. D.; Alvares, Rebeca (31 October 2007). Recent Advances In Actinide Science. Royal Society of Chemistry. p. 275. ISBN 978-1-84755-536-6. Retrieved 11 January 2026.

[IC-2] Huang, Wei; Xu, Wen-Hua; Su, Jing; Schwarz, W. H. E.; Li, Jun (16 December 2013). "Oxidation states, geometries, and electronic structures of plutonium tetroxide PuO4 isomers: is octavalent Pu viable?". Inorganic Chemistry. 52 (24): 14237–14245. doi:10.1021/ic402170q. ISSN 1520-510X. PMID 24274785.

[3] Huang, Wei; Pyykkö, Pekka; Li, Jun (8 September 2015). "Is Octavalent Pu(VIII) Possible? Mapping the Plutonium Oxyfluoride Series PuO(n)F(8-2n) (n = 0-4)". Inorganic Chemistry. 54 (17): 8825–8831. doi:10.1021/acs.inorgchem.5b01540. ISSN 1520-510X. PMID 26309065.

[4] Zaitsevskii, Andréi; Mosyagin, Nikolai S.; Titov, Anatoly V.; Kiselev, Yuri M. (21 July 2013). "Relativistic density functional theory modeling of plutonium and americium higher oxide molecules". The Journal of Chemical Physics. 139 (3) 034307. Bibcode:2013JChPh.139c4307Z. doi:10.1063/1.4813284. PMID 23883027. Retrieved 11 January 2026.

[5] Koordinat︠s︡ionnai︠a︡ khimii︠a︡ (in Russian). Nauka. 2002. p. 260. Retrieved 11 January 2026.

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