Quantification and analysis of intramolecular interactions

Non-covalent interactions play a prominent role in chemistry and biology. While a myriad of theoretical methods have been devised to quantify and analyze intermolecular interactions, the theoretical toolbox for the intramolecular analogues is much scarcer. Yet interactions within molecules govern fundamental phenomena as illustrated by the energetic differences between structural isomers. Their accurate quantification is of utmost importance. This paper gives an overview of the most common approaches able to probe intramolecular interactions and stresses both their characteristics and limitations. We finally introduce our recent theoretical approach, which represents the first step towards the development of an intramolecular version of Symmetry-Adapted Perturbation Theory (SAPT).