Study of the interaction between cisplatin and the Au18(SR)14 cluster: in search of an appropriate cisplatin carrier

Abstract

Cisplatin is a well known anti-cancer drug and considered as essential by the World Health Organization. However, cisplatin features side effects during medical treatments due to its lack of selectivity resulting in the indiscriminate death of cells including healthy cells. To solve this issue, it is mandatory to improve its delivery towards affected organs or tissues. The well known bio-compatibility of gold clusters encouraged us to study the interaction between cisplatin molecules and the Au₁₈(SR)₁₄ cluster (named Au₁₈) and our DFT calculations have provided insight into this aspect. Calculated adsorption energy values of the cisplatin_n/Au₁₈ complexes are within the 0.5–3.6 eV range, which attests to their unique interaction. In addition, their calculated optical absorption (UV-vis) and circular dichroism (CD) spectra display distinct peaks in such a manner that UV/CD spectra can be used as fingerprints by experimentalists.