Muons are short-lived species with an elementary positive or negative charge and a mass 207 times that of the electron. These recommendations concern positive muons, given the short lifetime of negative muons. A positive muon mimics a light hydrogen nucleus, and names are given in analogy to existing names for hydrogen-containing compounds. A particle consisting of a positive muon and an electron (μ+e–) is named “muonium” and has the symbol Mu. Examples: “muonium chloride,” MuCl, is the equivalent of deuterium chloride, 2HCl or DCl; “muoniomethane”, CH3Mu, is the product of the muoniation of methane; and NaMu is “sodium muonide.”
Pure Appl. Chem., Vol. 73, No. 2, pp. 377–380, 2001.
IUPAC Recommendations 2001
© 2001 IUPAC
IUPAC permission is acknowledged
