Understanding Intrinsically Irreversible, Non-Nernstian, Two-Electron Redox Processes: A Combined Experimental and Computational Study of the Electrochemical Activation of Platinum(IV) Antitumor Prodrugs

Six-coordinate Pt(IV)-complexes are prominent prodrug candidates for the treatment of various cancers where, upon two-electron reduction and loss of two axial ligands, they form more familiar, pharmacologically active four-coordinate Pt(II) drugs. A series of electrochemical experiments coupled with extensive density functional calculations has been employed to elucidate the mechanism for the two-electron reduction of PtIV(NH3)2Cl2L2 to PtII(NH3)2Cl2 (L = CH3COO–, 1; L = CHCl2COO–, 2; L = Cl–, 3). A reliable estimate for the normal reduction potential E o is derived for the electrochemically irreversible Pt(IV) reduction and is compared directly to the quantum chemically calculated reduction potentials. The process of electron transfer and Pt–L bond cleavage is found to occur in a stepwise fashion, suggesting that a metastable six-coordinate Pt(III) intermediate is formed upon addition of a single electron, and the loss of both axial ligands is associated with the second electron transfer. The quantum chemically calculated reduction potentials are in excellent agreement with experimentally determined values that are notably more positive than peak potentials reported previously for 1–3.