Rhodium is a platinum-group transition metal with chemical symbol and atomic number . Both its metallic surfaces and its coordination complexes are important in catalysis; automotive exhaust treatment is a major application.[ref]
Different ligand environments can change a rhodium centre's accessible oxidation states and reaction pathways. Thus the relatively unreactive bulk metal and a reactive molecular rhodium catalyst are compatible descriptions of different chemical environments, rather than contradictory properties of the element.
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