Calcium CH ligand with the bulkier C(CH) ligand on the other hand increases the compound's solubility, volatility, and kinetic stability. Natural calcium is a mixture of five stable isotopes (Ca, Ca, Ca, Ca, and Ca) and one isotope with a half-life so long that it can be considered stable for all practical purposes (Ca, with a half-life of about 4.3 × 10 years). Calcium is the first (lightest) element to have six naturally occurring isotopes. By far the most common isotope of calcium in nature is Ca, which makes up 96.941% of all natural calcium. It is produced in the silicon-burning
Calcium such as osteopontin and bone sialoprotein use both the first and the second. Direct activation of enzymes by binding calcium is common; some other enzymes are activated by noncovalent association with direct calcium-binding enzymes. Calcium also binds to the phospholipid layer of the cell membrane, anchoring proteins associated with the cell surface. As an example of the wide range of solubility of calcium compounds, monocalcium phosphate is very soluble in water, 85% of extracellular calcium is as dicalcium phosphate with a solubility of 2.0 mM and the hydroxyapatite of bones in an organic matrix is tricalcium phosphate at 100 µM.