The current status in computational exploration of Pt(IV) prodrug activation by reduction

Octahedral Pt^IV complexes are considered highly promising candidates for overcoming some shortcomings of clinically approved Pt^II drugs. Pt^IV compounds, owing to their inertia, appear to be capable of resisting premature aquation and undesired binding to essential plasma proteins and have shown remarkable potential for both oral administration and for reducing side effects. Additionally, their pharmacological properties can be finely tuned by choosing appropriate axial ligands. The reduction inside the cell by biological reducing agents to the correponding active cytotoxic Pt^II species, accompanied by the loss of the axial ligands, is considered an essential step of their mechanism and has been extensively studied. However, a detailed understanding of the mechanism by which Pt^IV prodrugs are activated, which should be highly beneficial for their proper design, is lacking, and many contradictory results continue to be collected. In the hope of contributing to the advancement of knowledge in this field, this perspective focuses on the insights gained from computational studies carried out with the aim of finding answers to the many still open questions concerning the reduction of Pt^IV complexes in biological environments.