The anodic dissolution of an extensively disordered (ion bombarded) Pd(100) single-crystal surface in inert (halide-free) H2SO4 solution, catalyzed by a single adsorbed layer of iodine, has been found to generate a well-ordered Pd(100)-c(2 x 2)-I adlattice; reductive desorption of the adsorbed iodine yields the clean and ordered Pd(100) surface. Experimental measurements were based upon a combination of linear-sweep voltammetry, potential-step coulometry, low-energy electron diffraction, and Auger electron spectroscopy. This dissolution-reordering phenomenon is unique since the process occurs in the absence of bulk corrosive reagents, and only if a monolayer of chemisorbed iodine is present. This process may be viewed analogously to electrochemical digital etching except that bulk material is not needed to replenish the adsorbed iodine that activates the surface, and the dissolution is not immediately terminated upon regeneration of the ordered interface.