X-ray and UV photoelectron spectroscopies show that acrylonitrile is chemisorbed on iron, nickel and copper polycrystalline surfaces via the carbon and nitrogen atoms. Depending on the conditions used, different adsorption geometries are found. The molecules can either be adsorbed flat on the surface and chemically bound by a (2pp)-(3d/4s) overlap via both the C=C double bond and the C=N nitrile group or they can be adsorbed perpendicular to the surface via a covalent interaction between the nitrogen lone pair and the 3d-4s levels of the metals. Analysis of the XPS data obtained on molecular mono-layers chemisorbed on metal surfaces emphasizes the importance of initial-state effects (charge transfer upon chemisorption, contribution of the metal surface dipole) and final-state effects (metal screening and polarization effect within the mono-layer). The correlation between the XPS and UPS data illustrates the importance of the metal surface dipole in understanding the workfunction changes upon molecular adsorption on metal surfaces. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.