# DFTB Parametrization at the Example of Platinum—Implementation, Validation and Practical Considerations

**Authors:** Felix R. S. Purtscher, Armin Penz, Josef M. Gallmetzer, Jakob Gamper, Thomas S. Hofer

PMC · DOI: 10.1002/jcc.70342 · Journal of Computational Chemistry · 2026-03-11

## TL;DR

This paper introduces new parameters for simulating platinum-containing systems using the DFTB3 method, validated through extensive benchmarks and practical applications.

## Contribution

Development of 3ob-compatible DFTB3 parameters for platinum, extending the method's applicability to transition metals.

## Key findings

- New parameters validated against over 1300 Pt-containing structures and 50 reference systems.
- Robust performance demonstrated in QM/MM simulations of Pt(II) complexes and MOF-hosted cisplatin.
- Python scripts provided to support reproducibility and adoption of the parametrization workflow.

## Abstract

Practical considerations for the parametrization of the transition metal platinum within the third‐order density‐functional tight‐binding (DFTB3) method are presented, enabling straightforward parametrizations of interactions between Pt and elements from the s‐, p‐, and d‐blocks of the periodic table. The newly developed parameter set is fully compatible with the 3ob DFTB3 framework, thereby extending the chemical space accessible to DFTB and enabling rapid and reliable simulations of platinum‐containing systems. The parameters were initially benchmarked against more than 1300 Pt‐containing structures extracted from the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre, as well as over 50 reference systems optimized at the MP2/cc‐pVTZ level of theory. Further validation included a challenging binuclear platinum(II) complex, QM/MM molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of Pt(II) complexes in aqueous solution, and 3d‐periodic DFTB‐based molecular dynamics simulations of cisplatin embedded in metal‐organic framework (MOF) hosts. Analysis of the resulting trajectories demonstrates a robust and consistent description of platinum coordination environments. To facilitate reproducibility and adoption, example Python scripts covering each step of the parametrization workflow are provided as part of the Supporting Information.

Development and comprehensive validation of 3ob‐compatible DFTB3 parameters for platinum, enabling efficient and reliable simulations of a wide range of Pt‐containing systems.

## Linked entities

- **Chemicals:** Pt (PubChem CID 23939), cisplatin (PubChem CID 5460033)

## Full-text entities

- **Chemicals:** Pt(II) (-), cisplatin (MESH:D002945), Platinum (MESH:D010984), MOF (MESH:D000073396)

## Full text

_Full body text omitted from this summary view._ Fetch the complete paper as Markdown: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12979722/full.md

## Figures

5 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12979722/full.md

## References

105 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12979722/full.md

---
Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12979722