Electron Transfer in Intermetallic Compounds

In our discussions of the electronic structure of intermetallic compounds during the last three years brief mention has been made from time to time of the phenomenon of electron transfer 1-3. The interpretation of the observed distances in many metallic phases seems to require the assumption that electron transfer has taken place; an example is Al9Co2, for which the distances 4 support the charge distribution 5 Al-2/99Co2+1. The indication by physical properties of a filled-Brillouin-zone structure for FerZn21 also led to the suggestion of electron transfer 2: about 1/4 electron is indicated to have been removed from each zinc atom and about one electron added to each iron atom. this paper it is pointed out that the analysis of interatomic distances shows that electron transfer takes place in a great many interatomic compounds, that the numbers of electrons involved are reasonable, in relation to the changes in valence resulting from loss or gain of electrons and to the partial ionic character of the bonds between unlike atoms and the striving of atoms toward electroneutrality.