  Adsorption and catalytic properties of the polar (111) surface of
transition-metal carbides (TMC's) are investigated by density-functional
theory. Atomic and molecular adsorption are rationalized with the
concerted-coupling model, in which two types of TMC surface resonances (SR's)
play key roles. The transition-metal derived SR is found to be a single
measurable descriptor for the adsorption processes, implying that the
Br{\o}nsted-Evans-Polanyi relation and scaling relations apply. This gives a
picture with implications for ligand and vacancy effects and which has a
potential for a broad screening procedure for heterogeneous catalysts.
