Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 11, 2026

Amide Coupling Reaction for the Synthesis of Bispyridine-based Ligands and Their Complexation to Platinum as Dinuclear Anticancer Agents
Published on: May 28, 2014
Hydrolysis of cisplatin--a first-principles metadynamics study
Justin Kai-Chi Lau1, Bernd Ensing
1Department of Chemistry and Applied Bioscience, ETH Zurich, USI Campus, Computational Science, Via Giuseppe Buffi 13, CH-6900, Lugano, Switzerland.
This study used advanced simulations to reveal how water molecules affect cisplatin, a key anticancer drug. Stronger hydrogen bonding in hydrolyzed products influences drug activation, aiding cancer treatment strategies.
Area of Science:
- Computational Chemistry
- Biochemistry
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Cisplatin is a foundational anticancer drug.
- Drug activation involves hydrolysis of Pt-Cl bonds.
- Solvent environment significantly impacts cisplatin hydrolysis.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate explicit solvent structures during cisplatin hydrolysis.
- Determine the role of solvent effects on cisplatin activation.
- Map the free energy landscape of cisplatin hydrolysis.
Main Methods:
- Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations.
- Metadynamics sampling technique.
- Free energy landscape analysis.
Main Results:
- Hydrogen bonding is stronger in hydrolyzed cisplatin products.
- The second hydrolysis of cisplatin is thermodynamically favorable.
- Hydrolysis pathways are broad, lacking specific mechanism preference.
Conclusions:
- Solvent water plays a crucial role in cisplatin activation.
- Metadynamics simulations accurately predict hydrolysis thermodynamics.
- Understanding these mechanisms can optimize cancer therapy.
Related Concept Videos
Stability of Conjugated Dienes
A comparison of the enthalpies of hydrogenation of dienes reveals that conjugated dienes release less heat on hydrogenation, rendering them more stable than their nonconjugated analogs.
Crystal Field Theory - Tetrahedral and Square Planar Complexes
Crystal field theory (CFT) is applicable to molecules in geometries other than octahedral. In octahedral complexes, the lobes of the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals point directly at the ligands. For tetrahedral complexes, the d orbitals remain in place, but with only four ligands located between the axes. None of the orbitals points directly at the tetrahedral ligands. However, the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals (along the Cartesian axes) overlap with the ligands less than the dxy,...
Olefin Metathesis Polymerization: Overview
Ruthenium-based Grubbs catalyst is the most commonly used catalyst for olefin metathesis polymerization. Grubbs catalyst consists of a...
Olefin Metathesis Polymerization: Acyclic Diene Metathesis (ADMET)
Similar to cross-metathesis, ADMET also involves the formation of metallacyclobutane intermediate by [2+2] cycloaddition of one of the double bonds of a terminal diene with...
Stereoisomerism
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula.
Transition metal complexes often exist as geometric isomers, in which the same atoms are connected through the same types of bonds but with differences in their orientation in space. Coordination complexes with two different ligands in the cis and trans positions from a ligand of interest form isomers. For example, the octahedral [Co(NH3)4Cl2]+ ion has two isomers (Figure 1) In the cis...
π Molecular Orbitals of 1,3-Butadiene
The simplest conjugated diene is 1,3-butadiene: a four-carbon system where each carbon is sp2-hybridized and has an unhybridized p orbital that contains an unpaired electron. According to molecular orbital theory, atomic orbitals combine to form molecular orbitals such that the number...
