  We demonstrate that Optimal Control Theory (OCT) with a state-dependent
constraint which depends on the state of the system at each instant can
reproduce the famous counterintuitive mechanism of Stimulated Raman adiabatic
passage (STIRAP). We examine this behavior in a {\Lambda}-type three-level
system and we show that could be applied for sequentially coupled many-level
systems. We study the robustness of the two methods with respect to pulse
fluctuations and the decays. We show that new OCT formulation appears to be
more robust than STIRAP when a perturbation is introduced in the pulses. Such
method is of great use for systems involving coherence loss such as molecular
systems with dissociation or ionization limits. It also may find potential
applications in the control of chemical reactions, quantum optics, and quantum
information processing.
