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Molecular chemisorption at a metal surface is a key step for many processes, such as catalysis, electrochemistry, surface treatment, tribology and friction. Modeling with density functional theory is largely used on these systems. From a detailed comparison with accurate micro-calorimetric data on ten systems (involving ethylene, cyclohexene, benzene, naphthalene, CO, O2, H2, methane, ethane), we study the accuracy, for chemisorption on Pt(111), of five exchange–correlation functionals including one generalized gradient approximation functional (PBE) and four functionals that take into account van der Waals interactions (optPBE-vdW, optB86b-vdW, BEEF-vdW, PBE-dDsC). If the functionals used provide very similar geometries and electronic structures, as shown by projected density of states, they give strikingly different results for the adsorption energy of molecules on Pt(111). Among the set of chemisorption …