ALMO-EDA/COVP SCF Convergence Failure for Open-Shell Anion Radical System

Hello, I am running an ALMO-EDA calculation (EDA2 = FALSE ) with COVP analysis in Q-Chem 6.4.0 on an intramolecular donor–acceptor system. The system is an anion radical with overall charge = −1 and multiplicity = 2. The fragments are defined as:

  • Fragment 1 (biphenyl donor): charge = −1, multiplicity = 1
  • Fragment 2 (cyclohexane-bridged naphthalene acceptor): charge = 0, multiplicity = 2

The fragment calculations appear to complete successfully, but the combined ALMO/SCF step fails to converge. Even after 500 SCF cycles, the energy oscillates substantially and does not approach convergence. Are there any recommended strategies (e.g., different SCF algorithms, level shifting, MOM, fragment spin assignments, or alternative initial guesses) that might improve convergence?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
I am sharing my input file:

$molecule
-1 2
--
-1 1
C         -1.06129       -1.38834        0.86231
C         -1.98190       -1.06148        1.86571
C         -3.34703       -1.22181        1.72370
C         -3.93191       -1.74700        0.52666
C         -2.98229       -2.07465       -0.49436
C         -1.62636       -1.89482       -0.31843
C         -5.33982       -1.94315        0.36842
C         -6.30528       -1.42856        1.30030
C         -7.65989       -1.63008        1.14386
C         -8.18078       -2.36085        0.06121
C         -7.25877       -2.87675       -0.86780
C         -5.90213       -2.67817       -0.73052
H         -1.58706       -0.68542        2.80563
H         -3.98310       -0.97744        2.56764
H         -3.33094       -2.45875       -1.44683
H         -0.94728       -2.14944       -1.13083
H         -5.97167       -0.83359        2.14390
H         -8.34045       -1.20360        1.87851
H         -9.24747       -2.51960       -0.05461
H         -7.61867       -3.45740       -1.71521
H         -5.24359       -3.12524       -1.46764
--
0 2
C          2.32828        0.55327        0.73990
C          3.14022       -0.66283        1.21121
C          2.49201       -1.30986        2.44774
C          0.95274       -1.19338        2.44486
C          0.43638       -1.18507        0.99897
C          0.89676        0.12823        0.31291
H          2.24035        1.22638        1.60094
H          4.16842       -0.36129        1.43352
H          3.20608       -1.38841        0.39265
H          2.78032       -2.36536        2.48920
H          2.88997       -0.84538        3.35602
H          0.65697       -0.26329        2.94853
H          0.52707       -2.01959        3.02108
H          0.94193       -2.01895        0.48127
H          0.85056        0.00134       -0.77325
H          0.20723        0.94229        0.55601
C          5.42748        5.25454       -1.92543
C          5.63946        4.63545       -3.17796
C          5.16711        3.37069       -3.40762
C          4.46289        2.66504       -2.40068
C          4.24634        3.28626       -1.14358
C          4.74769        4.59645       -0.93527
C          3.96033        1.35356       -2.60118
C          3.28298        0.70376       -1.60967
C          3.05491        1.31293       -0.34547
C          3.53656        2.57970       -0.13803
H          5.80357        6.25702       -1.75229
H          6.17540        5.16709       -3.95648
H          5.32350        2.89085       -4.36882
H          4.58268        5.07229        0.02641
H          4.11772        0.87232       -3.56151
H          2.90545       -0.29759       -1.78928
H          3.37548        3.06629        0.82024
$end

$rem
   JOBTYPE          EDA
   EDA2             FALSE
   METHOD           wB97X-D
   BASIS            6-31G**
   PURECART         1112
   FRGM_METHOD      STOLL
   FRGM_LPCORR      ARS
   SCF_PRINT_FRGM   TRUE
   EDA_COVP         TRUE
   EDA_PRINT_COVP   TRUE
   UNRESTRICTED     TRUE
   IANLTY           200
   MAX_SCF_CYCLES   500
   SCF_CONVERGENCE  8
   SCF_ALGORITHM    GDM
   THRESH           14
$end

$plots
MOs
   120  -13.2  10.6
    91   -7.9  10.3
    80   -8.4   7.4
   12  0  0  0
   96  97  98  99  100  101  95  96  97  98  99  100
$end