New global constraints on electronic energy hypersurfaces

Improved global energy bounds — valid for the entire electronic energy hypersurfaces of a variety of polyatomic molecular systems — are proposed. The new constraints are applicable to a larger class of molecules and are tighter than the constraints proposed earlier. The new global bounds are easily applicable using readily available energy values of atoms and atom-ions. The actual evaluation of these constraints typically involves only “back-of-the-envelope” calculations, providing both upper and lower bounds for a complete energy hypersurface, even for very large molecules. Such global energy bounds are of some importance in theoretical studies of chemical reactions and conformational changes. The proposed bounds are likely to find some practical applications in computer-based quantum-chemical synthesis planning, using multidimensional potential surfaces.