PW86-PW91 density functional calculation of vertical ionization potentials: Some implications for present-day functionals

A total of 181 vertical ionization potentials (VIPs) of 41 molecules were calculated by density functional theory (DFT) employing the Perdew-Wang 1986 (PW86) exchange and Perdew-Wang 1991 (PW91) correlation functionals and using the aug-cc-pV5Z basis and experimental ground-state geometries. The overall average absolute deviation (AAD) from experiment was found to be 0.55 eV and only 0.31 eV for linear molecules but 0.86 eV for nonplanar molecules. A number of VIPs were in error by over 2 eV. In particular, DFT performed most poorly when ionization was from an orbital with highly varying density gradients (which arise from the orbital’s shape or compactness or through its density being distributed over a number of atoms). Indications are that many or all present-day functionals suffer from the same failings. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.