Raman and SERS study on ibuprofen metal complexes with biomedical interest

Ibuprofen is one of the most widely used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), in which the carboxylate group is available for metal-ligand interactions. The most stable geometries for ibuprofen (in both its protonated and deprotonated forms) were identified by optimizations obtained by the unrestricted Density Functional Theory (DFT). Theoretical study of ibuprofen interacting with Ag colloid in solution, led to two (for the protonated form) and three (for the deprotonated form) different optimized geometries, corresponding to different interaction sites of the Ag2 cluster. Frequency calculations were performed in the limit of the harmonic approximation, using the aug-cc-pVDZ basis set. Interpretation of the theoretical Raman spectra was performed by the Potential Energy Distribution (PED) analysis of the fundamental vibrations modes. Raman study on the solid Ibuprofen-metal complexes confirmed that Co2+ gives monodentate complexes, while Zn2+ adopts a bidentate coordination. SERS spectra of metal complexes, suggested that at ppm concentration, the formation of stable 2:1 metal complexes is excluded, while is more probable the formation of 1:1 adduct with bidentate binding on the carboxylic group. The metal reaches its total coordination shell by complexation of water molecules.