In this paper the bonding of thin vegetable oil films on mercapto silane treated aluminium surfaces has been studied. The silane molecules are attached to the surface by metal-oxygen-silicon bonds. The coupling between the unsaturated bonds of the vegetable oil and the thiol functionalised surface was obtained through a photoinduced thiol-ene reaction. The surfaces were characterised by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Vegetable oil contains both saturated and unsaturated carbon chains. For the reactions investigated in this study it is the unsaturated carbon chains that can react by a thiol-ene reaction and the results indicate that it is possible to attach a vegetable oil to a metal surface pre-treated with a thiol functionalised silane. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.