This is a reflection of the increasingly covalent character of the M–O bonds. While these two sets of bands are separated in Li2IrO3, the gap has completely collapsed for Li2PtO3. Another measure of the bond covalency is seen in the fact that the O 2p orbitals and the Pt 5d orbitals contribute almost equally to both the bonding states (−5 to −7 eV) and antibonding states (>−2 eV). Thus the Pt–O bonding in Li2PtO3 is almost fully covalent. The increased covalency correlates well with the thermal stability observed in oxidizing and inert atmospheres.