The ability of a metal surface to act as a ligand has been suggested in the past, specifically in the allegory of the so called “surface trans-effect”. In this work, a combination of precise quantitative structural measurements and theoretical calculations indicate that the “surface trans-effect” is a true trans-effect as observed in coordination chemistry, and the surface does indeed act as if it were a ligand. However, rather than the locally bound atomic electrons being the source of this phenomenon, it is the delocalised metallic electrons that are participating in this ligand-like interaction.

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Image credit: Mrs. Claire Rochford