Excel’s dynamic array functions (like UNIQUE) are designed to be entered in a single cell and “spill” into adjacent cells. When you set the formula in a single cell via ClosedXML, Excel automatically adds the implicit intersection operator (@) as part of its internal handling of dynamic arrays.
For example code that looks like this ...
distinctFrameRates.Cell(1,1).FormulaA1 = "UNIQUE(Pricing!D:E)"; 
ends up with a formula of =@unique(Pricing!D:E) which doesn't work because of the @