The gas-phase adsorption of trimethylphosphine onto hectorite, exchanged with Co(II) and Ni(II), gives trigonal complexes of the type [M(Ol)3(PMe3)]2+ (M = Co, Ni). Ten Dq values of PMe3 are 2.1 and 2.4 times larger than those of the structural oxygens or solvent molecules. The same complexes form between dimethylphenylphosphine and Ni(II) on hectorite and on synthetic zeolite Y. Co(II) forms pseudotetrahedral complexes with dimethylphenylphosphine ligands. These surface-immobilized transition-metal complexes interact strongly with NO and CH ≡ CH and to a lesser extent with CO and CH2=CH2, giving new types of complexes.