  The metal-insulator transition (MIT) of V6O11 is studied by means of
electronic structure calculations using the augmented spherical wave method.
The calculations are based on density functional theory and the local density
approximation. Changes of the electronic structure at the MIT are discussed in
relation to the structural transformations occuring simultaneously. The
analysis is based on a unified point of view of the crystal structures of
V6O11, VO2, and V2O3. This allows to group the electronic bands into states
behaving similar to the dioxide or the sesquioxide. While the sesquioxide-like
V 3d_yz states show rather weak changes on entering the low-temperature
structure, some of the dioxide-like V 3d_x^2-y^2 states display splittings and
shifts similar to those known from VO2. The MIT of V6O11 arises as a
combination of changes appearing in both of these compounds. Our results shed
new light onto the role of particular electronic states for the MIT of V2O3.
