The chemical-properties of rutherfordium (Rf) and its group 4 homologs were studied by sorption on glass support surfaces coated with cobalt(II)ferrocyanide and by solvent extraction with tributylphosphate (TBP) and triisooctylamine (TIOA). The surface studies showed that the hydrolysis trend in the group 4 elements and the pseudogroup 4 element, lb, decreases in the order Rf>Zr{approx}Hf>Th. This trend was attributed to relativistic effects which predicted that Rf would be more prone to having a coordination number of 6 than 8 in most aqueous solutions due to a destabilization of the 6d{sub 5/2} shell and a stabilization of the 7p{sub l/2} shell. This hydrolysis trend was confirmed in the TBP/HBr solvent extraction studies which showed that the extraction trend decreased in the order Zr>Hf>Rf?Ti for HBr, showing that Rf and Ti did not extract as well because they hydrolyzed more easily than Zr and Hf. The TIOA/HF solvent extraction studies showed that the extraction trend for the group 4 elements decreased in the order Ti>Zr{approx}Hf>Rf, in inverse order from the trend of ionic radii Rf>Zr{approx}Hf>Ti. An attempt was made to produce {sup 263}Rf (a) via the {sup 248}Cm({sup 22}Ne, {alpha}3n) reaction employing thenoyltrifluoroacetone (TTA) solvent extraction chemistry and (b) via the {sup …