Some peptide-based drugs, including oxytocin, vasopressin, ziconotide, pramlintide, nesiritide, and octreotide, contain one intramolecular disulfide bond. A novel and reusable monodispersed silica nanosphere-supported Pt(IV) complex (SiO₂@TPEA@Pt(IV)); TPEA: N-[3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl]ethylenediamine) was synthesized via a four-step procedure and was used for the formation of intramolecular disulfide bonds in peptides. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and chemical mapping results for the Pt(II) intermediates and for SiO₂@TPEA@Pt(IV) show that the silica nanospheres possess a monodisperse spherical structure and contain uniformly-distributed Si, O, C, N, Cl, and Pt. The valence state of Pt on the silica nanospheres was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The Pt(IV) loaded on SiO₂@TPEA@Pt(IV) was 0.15 mmol/g, as determined by UV-VIS spectrometry. The formation of intramolecular disulfides in six dithiol-containing peptides of variable lengths by the use of SiO₂@TPEA@Pt(IV) was investigated, and the relative oxidation yields were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). In addition, peptide 1 (Ac-CPFC-NH₂) was utilized to study the reusability of SiO₂@TPEA@Pt(IV). No significant decrease in the relative oxidation yield was observed after ten reaction cycles. Moreover, the structure of SiO₂@TPEA@Pt(IV) after being used for ten cycles was determined to be similar to its initial one, demonstrating the cycling stability of the complex.
Keywords: intramolecular disulfide; monodisperse silica nanospheres; peptide; reusability; supported platinum(IV) complex.