Covalent radii revisited

Abstract

A new set of covalent atomic radii has been deduced from crystallographic data for most of the elements with atomic numbers up to 96. The proposed radii show a well behaved periodic dependence that allows us to interpolate a few radii for elements for which structural data is lacking, notably the noble gases. The proposed set of radii therefore fills most of the gaps and solves some inconsistencies in currently used covalent radii. The transition metal and lanthanide contractions as well as the differences in covalent atomic radii between low spin and high spin configurations in transition metals are illustrated by the proposed radii set.