Journal of Materials Science and Engineering B 2 (12) (2012) 611-617 Activity Test of Nanogold for Reduction of Free Radicals, a Pre-Assessment Utilization Nanogold in Pharmaceutical as Medicines and Cosmetics Titik Taufikurohmah 1 , I Gusti Made Sanjaya 1 , Afaf Baktir 2 and Achmad Syahrani 3 1. Chemistry Department, the State University of Surabaya, Surabaya 60231, East Java, Indonesia 2. Chemistry Department, Airlangga University, Surabaya East Java, Indonesia 3. Pharmacy Department, Airlangga University, Surabaya East Java, Indonesia Received: September 14, 2012 / Accepted: September 29, 2012 / Published: December 25, 2012. Abstract: Gold has been used long times ago as a medicine and cosmetics. The development of materials has entered the nanomaterial era no exception of gold material that known as nanogold. The use of nanogold also entered the world of pharmacy as drugs or cosmetics. Nanogold has been used as a cure for cancer as well as antiaging material in cosmetics. This study aimed to test anticancer and antiaging nanogold activity. One of anticancer activity test is reduction of free radical activity. Antiaging activity assays can also use the free radical reduction activity test. In the reduction of free radical activity test using artificial free radical diphinylphikrylhidracyl (DPPH). DPPH compound has maximum absorption at UV-Vissible areas that will experience a decrease absorbance event damping. Nanogold concentrations used to reduce DPPH 6% (w / v) are 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 ppm. Percent reduction DPPH are 47.66%, 52.02%, 56.14%, 56.85%, 66.27%, 52.34%, 47.11% and 35,15%. It can be concluded thatif the concentration of nanogold is higher, the percent reduction of free radicals by nanogold is increase. But after the concentration 25 ppm, percent reduction of free radicals is decrease, because the colloidal nanogold system was damaged by the formation of sediment that has a particle size exceeds of colloidal particles range 1-100 nm. It also shows that the activity of nanogold particles greater than bulk gold activity. Keywords: Nanogold, anti aging, anti-cancer, free radicals, colloidal. 1. Introduction Gold is classified as a Group IB metal in the periodic table. The most commonly recognized oxidation states are I, II, III, and V, although metal-metal bonds do exist in complexes for which it is difficult to assign a formal oxidation state to the gold atom. True salts of Au(I) such as the halides are unstable in the presence of water and disproportionate to Au(I) (metallic gold) and Au(III). However, Au(I) can be stabilized by the formation of complexes with “soft” ligands [1, 2], such as the thiolates and phosphines. All currently used anti-arthritic gold complexes exist as Au(I)-thiol or -phosphine compounds [2, 3]. The high toxicity of the Corresponding author: Titik Taufikurohmah, research field: material. E-mail: ttaufikurohmah@yahoo.com. Au(III) complexes such as chloroauric acid (HAuCl 4 ), makes them unsuitable for human use. Elder and colleagues have shown that if gold sodium thiomalate is administered to laboratory animals, the gold recovered from the tissue and urine exists in the Au(I) oxidation state (i.e., the same oxidation state as the gold in gold sodium thiomalate and not the Au(III) oxidation state [2, 4] If AuCI 3 , is administered to laboratory animals, the gold state recovered in tissues and urine exists only as the Au(I) oxidation state. It is thus considered that Au(I) is the stable primary oxidation state in a biological milieu [2]. Metallic gold is one that has a unique metal that is not easily oxidized, even more likely to be reduced, this can be explained by thereduction potentialof DAVID PUBLISHING D