[en] Core electron binding energies were measured for a variety of inorganic and organometallic compounds using gas-phase X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The atomic charge distributions in these molecules are deduced from the binding energies, often leading to a better understanding of the bonding in these compounds. The XPS spectra of fifteen volatile tin compounds were recorded. The data suggest that the metal d orbitals are not significantly involved in the bonding. The oxygen ls XPS spectra of gaseous CH₃Mn(CO)₅, [π-C₅H₅Fe(CO)₂]₂, and Co₄(CO)₁₂ can be readily resolved into separate peaks due to bridging and terminal carbonyl groups. The C ls spectrum of Fe(CO)₅ consists of a single symmetric peak. The carbonyl ligand core binding energies of transition-metal carbonyl complexes are sensitive to differences in the metal-to-CO ligand bonding. Both C ls and O ls carbonyl binding energies correlate well with average C-O stretching force constants or average C-O stretching frequencies. The metal and carbonyl binding energies in a series of pentacarbonylmanganese complexes LMn(CO)₅ are a good measure of the relative electronegativities of the ligands L. High-quality X-ray photoelectron spectra have been obtained for compounds dissolved in glycerin solutions, and aqueous solutions were converted into glycerin solutions which gave good XRSspectra of the solutes. The technique appears promising as a future analytical application of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The shifts in the binding energies of oxygen, chlorine, and carbon atoms in some isoelectronic isostructural compounds can be explained in terms of simple trends in atomic charges