We report synthesis and solid-state NMR characterization of two 17 O-labeled platinum anticancer drugs: cis-diammine(1,1-cyclobutane-[ 17 O 4 ]dicarboxylato)platinum(II) (carboplatin) and ([ 17 O 4 ]oxalato)[(1R, 2R)-(−)-1,2-cyclohexanediamine)]platinum(II) (oxaliplatin). Both 17 O chemical shift (CS) and quadrupolar coupling (QC) tensors were measured for the carboxylate groups in these two compounds. With the aid of plane wave DFT computations, the 17 O CS and QC tensor orientations were determined in the molecular frame of reference. Significant changes in the 17 O CS and QC tensors were observed for the carboxylate oxygen atom upon its coordination to Pt(II). In particular, the 17 O isotropic chemical shifts for the oxygen atoms directly bonded to Pt(II) are found to be smaller (more shielded) by 200 ppm than those for the non-Pt-coordinated oxygen atoms within the same carboxylate group. Examination of the 17 O CS tensor components reveals that such a large 17 O coordination shift is primarily due to the shielding increase along the direction that is within the O=C-O-Pt plane and perpendicular to the O-Pt bond. This result is interpreted as due to the donation from the oxygen nonbonding orbital (electron lone pair) to the Pt(II) empty d yz orbital, which results in large energy gaps between (Pt-O) and unoccupied molecular orbitals, thus reducing the paramagnetic shielding contribution along the direction perpendicular to the O-Pt bond. We found that the 17 O QC tensor of the carboxylate oxygen is also sensitive to Pt(II) coordination, and that 17 O CS and QC tensors provide complementary information about the O-Pt bonding.