Ligand-field theory of inductive effects in the photoelectron spectra of transition-metal compounds

An empirical model, based on the ligand-field molecular-orbital theory, is presented to explain the photoelectron spectra of transition-metal compounds. The main photoelectron peak is considered to arise from core-electron photoemission and the satellite peak, from core-electron photoemission with a simultaneous ligand transition from the highest occupied molecular orbital to the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital. The ligand-field framework permits the understanding of why both main- and satellite-peak positions are ligand dependent and accommodates the copper halide data, which is something that no previous theory had done.