The electronic structure and the valency of the Sc ions in the endohedral dimetallofullerene Sc 2 @C 84 with
D 2d symmetry are probed using high-energy spectroscopy. Comparison of the Sc 2p ! 3d x-ray-absorption
spectrum with calculated ionic multiplet spectra shows that the Sc ions are trivalent. Detailed multiplet calcu-lations
including covalency indicate that the effective valency of the Sc~III! ions can be described by a formal
charge transfer to the fullerene cage of 2.660.1. This illustrates that a purely ionic picture is not valid for the
electronic structure of Sc 2 @C 84 , and that a more complex picture including finite hybridization between the Sc
and the fullerene cage has to be applied