  We have examined cobalt based valence tautomer molecules such as
Co(SQ)$_2$(phen) using density functional theory (DFT) and variational
configuration interaction (VCI) approaches based upon a model Hamiltonian. Our
DFT results extend earlier work by finding a reduced total energy gap (order
0.6 eV) between high temperature and low temperature states when we fully relax
the coordinates (relative to experimental ones). Futhermore we demonstrate that
the charge transfer picture based upon formal valence arguments succeeds
qualitatively while failing quantitatively due to strong covalency between the
Co 3$d$ orbitals and ligand $p$ orbitals. With the VCI approach, we argue that
the high temperature, high spin phase is strongly mixed valent, with about 30 %
admixture of Co(III) into the predominantly Co(II) ground state. We confirm
this mixed valence through a fit to the XANES spectra. Moreover, the strong
electron correlations of the mixed valent phase provide an energy lowering of
about 0.2-0.3 eV of the high temperature phase relative to the low temperature
one. Finally, we use the domain model to account for the extraordinarily large
entropy and enthalpy values associated with the transition.
