Though naturally occurring platinum, containing all six platinum group metals, was used for a long time by pre-Columbian Americans and known to European chemists from the mid-16th century, it took until the mid-17th century for platinum to be discovered. The discovery that natural platinum contained palladium, rhodium, osmium and iridium took place in the first decade of the 18th century. Platinum in alluvial sands of Russian rivers gave access to raw material for use in plates and medals and for the minting of ruble coins, starting in 1828.Residues of platinum production for minting where available in the Russian Empire, and therefore most of the research on them was done in Eastern Europe.

It is possible that the Polish chemist J?drzej ?niadecki isolated element 44 (which he called "vestium") from platinum ores in 1807. His work was never confirmed, however, and he later withdrew his claim of discovery.[citation needed] J?ns Berzelius and Gottfried Osann nearly discovered ruthenium in 1827.The men examined residues that were left after dissolving crude platinum from the Ural Mountains in aqua regia. Berzelius did not find any unusual metals, but Osann thought he found three new metals, pluranium, ruthenium and polinium. This discrepency led to a long-standing controversy between Berzelius and Osann about the composition of the residues.

In 1844 the Russian scientist Karl Klaus showed that the compounds prepared by Gottfried Osann contained small amounts of ruthenium, which Klaus had discovered the same year.Klaus isolated ruthenium from the platinium residues of the rouble production while he was working in Kazan University, Kazan.Klaus showed that ruthenium oxide contained a new metal and obtained 6 grams of ruthenium from the part of crude platinum that is insoluble in aqua regia.

The name derives from Ruthenia, the Latin word for Rus', a historical area which includes present-day western Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and parts of Slovakia and Poland. Karl Klaus named the element in honour of his birthland, as he was born in Tartu, Estonia, which was at the time a part of the Russian Empire.

The Ruthenium, with the CAS registry number 7440-18-8, is also known as Ruthenium atomic absorption standard solution. It belongs to the product categories of Inorganics; Catalysts for Organic Synthesis; Classes of Metal Compounds; Heterogeneous Catalysts; Ru (Ruthenium) Compounds; Synthetic Organic Chemistry; Transition Metal Compounds; AA Standard Solutions Spectroscopy; AAS; Alphabetic; ChlorideAnalytical Standards; Matrix Selection; Reference/Calibration Standards; RSpectroscopy; Single Solution; Standard Solutions; Fuel Cell Catalysts Catalysis and Inorganic Chemistry; Alternative Energy; Materials Science; Ru Catalysts; Ruthenium; Metal and Ceramic Science; Metals. Its EINECS registry number is 231-127-1. Its IUPAC name is called ruthenium. This chemical is black powder.

Physical properties of Ruthenium: (1)H-Bond Donor: 0; (2)H-Bond Acceptor: 0; (3)Rotatable Bond Count: 0; (4)Exact Mass: 101.904349; (5)MonoIsotopic Mass: 101.904349; (6)Topological Polar Surface Area: 0; (7)Heavy Atom Count: 1; (8)Formal Charge: 0; (9)Complexity: 0; (10)Isotope Atom Count: 0; (11)Defined Atom StereoCenter Count: 0; (12)Undefined Atom StereoCenter Count: 0; (13)Defined Bond StereoCenter Count: 0; (14)Undefined Bond StereoCenter Count: 0; (15)Covalently-Bonded Unit Count: 1.

Preparation: this chemical can be prepared by smelting iridium osmium ore. This reaction will need H₂.

Uses of Ruthenium: it can be used as wear-resistant alloy, coating and metal anode catalysts in organic synthesis, etc. Most ruthenium is used for wear-resistant electrical contacts and the production of thick-film resistors. A minor application of ruthenium is its use in some platinum alloys. What's more, it is used in platinum and palladium alloys to make wear-resistant electrical contacts. Because of its lower cost and similar properties compared to rhodium, the use as plating material for electric contacts is one of the major applications.The coatings are either put on by electroplating or sputtering.

When you are using this chemical, please be cautious about it as the following:
This chemical may destroy living tissue on contact and may cause burns. It may catch fire in contact with air and only need brief contact with an ignition source which has a very low flash point or evolve highly flammable gases in contact with water. In addition, it may cause damage to health. It is harmful by inhalation. You should keep it away from sources of ignition - No smoking. In case of contact with eyes, you must rinse immediately with plenty of water and seek medical advice.

You can still convert the following datas into molecular structure:
(1)Canonical SMILES: [Ru]
(2)InChI: InChI=1S/Ru
(3)InChIKey: KJTLSVCANCCWHF-UHFFFAOYSA-N