TY - JOUR A1 - Kunnus, Kristjan A1 - Josefsson, I. A1 - Schreck, Simon Frederik A1 - Quevedo, W. A1 - Miedema, P. S. A1 - Techert, S. A1 - de Groot, F. M. F. A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Odelius, M. A1 - Wernet, Ph. T1 - Quantifying covalent interactions with resonant inelastic soft X-ray scattering BT - case study of Ni2+ aqua complex JF - Chemical physics letters N2 - We analyze the effects of covalent interactions in Ni 2p3d resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) spectra from aqueous Ni2+ ions and find that the relative RIXS intensities of ligand-to-metal charge-transfer final states with respect to the ligand-field final states reflect the covalent mixing between Ni 3d and water orbitals. Specifically, the experimental intensity ratio at the Ni L-3-edge allows to determine that the Ni 3d orbitals have on average 5.5% of water character. We propose that 2p3d RIXS at the Ni L-3-edge can be utilized to quantify covalency in Ni complexes without the use of external references or simulations. KW - Transition-metal ion KW - Aqueous solution KW - Covalent interaction KW - Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering KW - Ligand-field state KW - Charge-transfer state Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cplett.2016.12.046 SN - 0009-2614 SN - 1873-4448 VL - 669 SP - 196 EP - 201 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER -