  For a given many-electron molecule, it is possible to define a corresponding
one-electron Schr\"odinger equation, using potentials derived from simple
atomic densities, whose solution predicts fairly accurate molecular orbitals
for single- and multi-determinant wavefunctions for the molecule. The energy is
not predicted and must be evaluated by calculating Coulomb and exchange
interactions over the predicted orbitals. Transferable potentials for first-row
atoms and transition metal oxides that can be used without modification in
different molecules are reported. For improved accuracy, molecular
wavefunctions can be refined by slightly scaling nuclear charges and by
introducing potentials optimized for functional groups. For a test set of 20
molecules representing different bonding environments, the transferable
potentials with scaling give wavefunctions with energies that deviate from
exact self-consistent field or configuration interaction energies by less than
0.05 eV and 0.02 eV per bond or valence electron pair, respectively.
Applications to the ground and excited states of a Ti18O36 nanoparticle and
chlorophyll-s are reported.
