Title: canonical variational transition-state theory 
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - canonical variational transition-state theory 
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.C00790
Status: current

Definition
A development of transition-state theory in which the position of the dividing surface is varied so as to minimize the rate constant at a given temperature.

Related Terms
- dividing surface: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/D01823
- microcanonical variational transition-state theory : https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/M03897
- rate constant: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/O04322
- transition-state theory: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/T06470

Source
- PAC, 1996, 68, 149. 'A glossary of terms used in chemical kinetics, including reaction dynamics (IUPAC Recommendations 1996)' on page 155 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199668010149)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/C00790/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/C00790/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/C00790/xml

Citation: Citation: 'canonical variational transition-state theory ' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.C00790
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Accessed: 2026-04-18T23:54:31+00:00