Elements By Number of Primordial Isotopes
An even number of protons or of neutrons are more stable (lower binding energy) because of pairing effects, so even-even nuclides are much more stable than odd-odd. One effect is that there are few stable odd-odd nuclides: in fact only five are stable, with another four having half-lives longer than a billion years.
Another effect is to prevent beta decay of many even-even nuclides into another even-even nuclide of the same mass number but lower energy, because decay proceeding one step at a time would have to pass through an odd-odd nuclide of higher energy. (Double beta decay directly from even-even to even-even, skipping over an odd-odd nuclide, is only occasionally possible, and is a process so strongly hindered that it has a half-life greater than a billion times the age of the universe.) This makes for a larger number of stable even-even nuclides, up to three for some mass numbers, and up to seven for some atomic (proton) numbers and at least four for all stable even-Z elements beyond iron except for strontium.
Since a nucleus with an odd number of protons is relatively less stable, odd-numbered elements tend to have fewer stable isotopes. Of the 26 "monoisotopic" elements that have only a single stable isotope, all but one have an odd atomic number — the single exception being beryllium.
Read more about this topic: List Of Elements By Stability Of Isotopes
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