A Comparative DFT Investigation of the Adsorption of Temozolomide Anticancer Drug over Beryllium Oxide and Boron Nitride Nanocarriers

Abstract

Herein, attempts were made to explore the adsorption prospective of beryllium oxide (Be 12 O 12 ) and boron nitride (B 12 N 12 ) nanocarriers toward the temozolomide (TMZ) anticancer drug. A systematic investigation of the TMZ adsorption over nanocarriers was performed by using quantum chemical density functional theory (DFT). The favorability of Be 12 O 12 and B 12 N 12 nanocarriers toward loading TMZ was investigated through A↔D configurations. Substantial energetic features of the proposed configurations were confirmed by negative adsorption (E ads ) energy values of up to −30.47 and −26.94 kcal/mol for TMZ•••Be 12 O 12 and •••B 12 N 12 complexes within configuration A, respectively. As per SAPT results, the dominant contribution beyond the studied adsorptions was found for the electrostatic forces (E elst = −100.21 and −63.60 kcal/mol for TMZ•••B 12 N 12 and •••Be 12 O 12 complexes within configuration A, respectively). As a result of TMZ adsorption, changes in the energy of molecular orbitals followed by alterations in global reactivity descriptors were observed. Various intermolecular interactions within the studied complexes were assessed by QTAIM analysis. Notably, a favorable adsorption process was also observed under the effect of water with adsorption energy (E ) ads solvent reaching −28.05 and −22.26 kcal/mol for TMZ•••B 12 N 12 and •••Be 12 O 12 complexes within configuration A, respectively. The drug adsorption efficiency of the studied nanocarriers was further examined by analyzing the IR and Raman spectra. From a sustained drug delivery point of view, the release pattern of TMZ from the nanocarrier surface was investigated by recovery time calculations. Additionally, the significant role of doping by heavy atoms (i.e., MgBe 11 O 12 and AlB 11 N 12 ) on the favorability of TMZ adsorption was investigated and compared to pure analogs (i.e., Be 12 O 12 and B 12 N 12). The obtained data from thermodynamic calculations highlighted that the adsorption process over pure and doped nanocarriers was spontaneous and exothermic. The emerging findings provide a theoretical base for future works related to nanocarrier applications in the drug delivery process, especially for the TMZ anticancer drug.