New chemistry of an old molecule: cis-[Pt(NH3)2Cl2].

The discovery that cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (cis-DDP) has clinically useful antitumor properties and can form platinum blues spawned an extensive investigation of its chemistry in water. Several new molecules have been synthesized, some rather old ones have been characterized for the first time, and clues have begun to emerge about the chemical interaction of cis-DDP with its likely biological target, DNA.