Preconcentration of indapamide from human urine using molecularly imprinted solid‐phase extraction

A simple, sensitive, and selective molecularly imprinted solid‐phase extraction and spectrophotometric method has been developed for the clean‐up and preconcentration of indapamide from human urine. Molecularly imprinted polymers were prepared by a non‐covalent imprinting approach using indapamide as a template molecule, 2‐(trifluoromethyl) acrylic acid as a functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as a crosslinker, N,N‐azobisisobutyronitrile as a thermal initiator and acetonitrile as a porogenic solvent. A non‐imprinted polymer was also prepared in the same way, but in the absence of template. Molecularly imprinted polymer and non‐imprinted polymer sorbents were dry‐packed into solid‐phase extraction cartridges. Eluates from cartridges were analyzed using a spectrophotometer for the determination of indapamide by referring to the calibration curve in the range 0.14–1.50 μg/mL. Preconcentration factor, limit of detection, and limit of quantification were 16.30, 0.025 μg/mL, and 0.075 μg/mL, respectively. A relatively high imprinting factor (9.3) was also achieved and recovery values for the indapamide spiked into human urine were in the range of 80.1–81.2%. In addition, relatively low within‐day (0.17–0.42%) and between‐day (1.1–1.4%) precision values were obtained as well. The proposed molecularly imprinted solid‐phase extraction and spectrophotometric method was successfully applied to selective extraction, preconcentration, and determination of indapamide from human urine samples.     

Molecularly imprinted polymer for solid‐phase extraction of ephedrine and analogs from human plasma

A molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was synthesized and evaluated to selectively extract ephedrine from human plasma. The MIP synthesis was performed in chloroform with methacrylic acid as a functional monomer and the target alkaloid as a template molecule. The resulting MIP was applied to the selective extraction of ephedrine from a pure aqueous medium. A recovery about 74% was obtained using the MIP with only 7% on the nonimprinted polymer (NIP). A very straightforward selective SPE procedure was then successfully applied to the direct extraction of ephedrine from spiked human plasma with a high extraction recovery (68%) on the MIP with no recovery on the NIP. Moreover, the MIP was used for the selective extraction of catecholamine neurotransmitters, i.e. adrenaline and noradrenaline.     

A new molecularly imprinted polymer for the on-column solid-phase extraction of diethylstilbestrol from aqueous samples

The estrogenic compound diethylstilbestrol (DES) is widely studied because of its potential endocrine disruption effects. The prohibition of the use of diethylstilbestrol as a growth promoter has not been enough to ensure the total disappearance of this compound from environmental matrices. Due to the low levels of DES present in the environment, preconcentration and clean up methods are necessary for its analysis. This paper describes the synthesis and use of a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) as sorbent for on-column solid-phase extraction of DES from aqueous samples. The selectivity of the DES-MIP was evaluated towards several selected estrogens such as hexestrol (HEX), estrone (E1), estriol (E3), estradiol (E2) and ethynylestradiol (EE2). HPLC-DAD was used to quantify all analytes at 230-nm wavelength. The method has been successfully applied to the analysis of DES in spiked river and tap water samples, with recoveries of 72% and 83% respectively.     

Development of a molecularly imprinted solid‐phase extraction sorbent for the selective extraction of telmisartan from human urine

A novel molecularly imprinted solid‐phase extraction with spectrofluorimetry method has been developed for the selective extraction of telmisartan from human urine. Molecularly imprinted polymers were prepared by a noncovalent imprinting approach through UV‐radical polymerization using telmisartan as a template molecule, 2‐dimethylamino ethyl methacrylate as a functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as a cross‐linker, N,N‐azobisisobutyronitrile as an initiator, chloroform as a porogen. Molecularly imprinted polymers and nonimprinted control polymer sorbents were dry‐packed into solid‐phase extraction cartridges, and eluates from cartridges were analyzed using a spectrofluorimeter. Limit of detection and limit of quantitation values were 11.0 and 36.0 ng/mL, respectively. A very high imprinting factor (16.1) was achieved and recovery values for the telmisartan spiked in human urine were in the range of 76.1–79.1%. In addition, relatively low within‐day (0.14–1.6%) and between‐day (0.11–1.31%) precision values were obtained. Valsartan was used to evaluate the selectivity of sorbent as well. As a result, a sensitive, selective, and simple molecularly imprinted solid‐phase extraction with spectrofluorimetry method has been developed and successfully applied to the direct determination telmisartan in human urine.     

Molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction for the selective HPLC determination of ractopamine in pig urine

A method was developed for the determination of ractopamine in pig urine using molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MISPE) as the sample clean-up technique combined with high-performance liquid chromatography. The molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was synthesized in acetonitrile-triethylamine system using ractopamine (RAC) as the template and acrylamide as the monomer. The binding capacity of the polymer toward RAC was found to be about 2.57 mg of ractopamine/g of polymer. The optimal procedures for MISPE consisted of conditioning with 3 mL methanol, equilibrating with 3 mL of water, loading volume of <10 mL of aqueous sample (pH 7), washing with 3 mL water and 3 mL methanol, and eluting with 5 mL of 5% ammonia in methanol. In the four spiked samples with the levels of 0.01, 0.1, 1.0 and 5.0 μg/mL, the mean recoveries of analyte on the MIP were higher than 90% with relative standard deviation <10%, and significant differences between imprinted and non-imprinted materials were observed. The MIP selectivity was evaluated by checking 11 drugs with similar and different molecular structures to that of RAC. The characteristics of three-dimensional cavities and hydrogen bond interaction were regarded as the main factors that dominated the retention of RAC on the MISPE cartridge.     

Efficient strategy for the selective determination of dopamine in human urine by molecularly imprinted solid‐phase extraction

An efficient molecularly imprinted solid‐phase extraction protocol was developed for the separation of dopamine (DA) from human urine. After successful validation of the analytical method using high‐performance liquid chromatography coupled with fluorescence detection, a new strategy for the selective determination of DA in the presence of norepinephrine and epinephrine in human urine was presented. In the proposed protocol, the LODs and quantification for DA were 166 ± 36 and 500 ± 110 nmol/L, respectively, and the total recoveries of DA in the range of 1–15 μmol/L varied between 98.3 and 101.1%. DA was detected in the real urine samples at the level of 47–167 μg/L (0.250–0.895 μmol/L). The superiority of the novel analytical strategy was shown by comparison with the results obtained for a commercially available imprinted sorbent.     

Water‐compatible molecularly imprinted polymer as a sorbent for the selective extraction and purification of adefovir from human serum and urine

A molecularly imprinted polymer has been synthesized to specifically extract adefovir, an antiviral drug, from serum and urine by dispersive solid‐phase extraction before high‐performance liquid chromatography with UV analysis. The imprinted polymers were prepared by bulk polymerization by a noncovalent imprinting method that involved the use of adefovir (template molecule) and functional monomer (methacrylic acid) complex prior to polymerization, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as cross‐linker, and chloroform as porogen. Molecular recognition properties, binding capacity, and selectivity of the molecularly imprinted polymers were evaluated and the results show that the obtained polymers have high specific retention and enrichment for adefovir in aqueous medium. The new imprinted polymer was utilized as a molecular sorbent for the separation of adefovir from human serum and urine. The serum and urine extraction of adefovir by the molecularly imprinted polymer followed by high‐performance liquid chromatography showed a linear calibration curve in the range of 20–100 μg/L with excellent precisions (2.5 and 2.8% for 50 μg/L), respectively. The limit of detection and limit of quantization were determined in serum (7.62 and 15.1 μg/L), and urine (5.45 and 16 μg/L). The recoveries for serum and urine samples were found to be 88.2–93.5 and 84.3–90.2%, respectively.     

Selective solid-phase extraction of amoxicillin and cephalexin from urine samples using a molecularly imprinted polymer

In this paper we describe, for the first time, a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for the antibiotic amoxicillin (AMX), synthesised by a noncovalent molecular imprinting approach and used to extract AMX selectively from urine samples. The MIP was applied as a molecularly selective sorbent in molecularly imprinted SPE (MISPE) in an off-line mode, where it showed useful cross-selectivity for a structurally related antibiotic, cephalexin (CPX). By using a MISPE protocol, the MIP was able to selectively extract both AMX and CFX from 5 mL of water spiked with 10 mg/L with recoveries of 75 and 78% for AMX and CFX, respectively. When applied to real samples (urine) at clinically relevant concentrations, recoveries from 2 mL of human urine spiked with 20 mg/L decreased slightly to 65 and 63% for AMX and CFX, respectively. To demonstrate further the selectivity of the MIP obtained, a comparison with commercially available SPE cartridges was performed. Improvements in the retention of both AMX and CFX on the MIP were obtained relative to the commercially available cartridges, and the MISPE extracts were considerably cleaner, due to molecularly selective analyte binding by the MIP.     

Selective trace analysis of diclofenac in surface and wastewater samples using solid-phase extraction with a new molecularly imprinted polymer

A new molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for trace analysis of diclofenac in environmental water samples was prepared by a non-covalent protocol in which diclofenac was used as a template molecule. Diclofenac is a member of the class of drugs termed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) which belong to the most frequently detected pharmaceuticals in the water-cycle in Europe. The MIP was synthesized using 2-vinylpyridine (2-VP) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as a functional monomer and cross-linker, respectively, and bulk thermal polymerization method. ¹H NMR spectroscopy was used to study the interaction between diclofenac and 2-VP mixed in toluene-d₈ in pre-polymerization complex. Two non-covalent bonds were formed i.e. ionic interaction and hydrogen bonding. The binding characteristics of the MIP and diclofenac were evaluated using equilibrium binding experiments. Scatchard plot analysis revealed that two classes of binding sites were formed with dissociation constants of 55.6 μmol L⁻¹ and 1.43 mmol L⁻¹, respectively. Various parameters affecting the extraction efficiency of the polymers have been evaluated to achieve the selective preconcentration of diclofenac from aqueous samples and to reduce non-specific interactions. This resulted in an MISPE-LC/DAD method allowing the direct extraction of the analyte from sample matrix with a selective wash using dichloromethane/acetonitrile (94:6, v/v) followed by elution with dichloromethane/methanol (85:15, v/v). The recovery of a 100 ng diclofenac standard spiked into 200 mL of blank surface water was 96%, with good precision (RSD = 3.3%, n = 3). The MISPE was demonstrated to be applicable to the analysis of diclofenac in raw influent and final effluent wastewater samples from sewage treatment plant and revealed diclofenac concentrations of 1.31 ± 0.055 μg L⁻¹ (n = 3) and 1.60 ± 0.049 μg L⁻¹ (n = 3), respectively. Yielded results were in good agreement with the corresponding LC/TIS/MS/MS data obtained by an independent laboratory which were 1.40 and 1.50 μg L⁻¹ for influent and effluent samples.     

Selective solid-phase extraction of tebuconazole in biological and environmental samples using molecularly imprinted polymers

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) were prepared by precipitation polymerization using tebuconazole (TBZ) as a template. Frontal chromatography and selectivity experiments were used to determine the binding capabilities and binding specificities of different MIPs. The polymer that had the highest binding selectivity and capability was used as the solid-phase extraction (SPE) sorbent for the direct extraction of TBZ from different biological and environmental samples (cabbage, pannage, shrimp, orange juice and tap water). The extraction protocol was optimized and the optimum conditions were: conditioning with 5 mL methanol:acetic acid (9:1), 5 mL methanol and 5 mL water respectively, loading with 5 mL aqueous samples, washing with 1.2 mL acetonitrile (ACN):phosphate buffer (5:5, pH3), and eluting with 3 mL methanol. The MIPs were able to selectively recognize, effectively trap and preconcentrate TBZ over a concentration range of 0.5–15 μmol/L. The intraday and interday RSDs were less than 9.7% and 8.6%, respectively. The limit of quantification was 0.1 μmol/L. Under optimum conditions, the MISPE recoveries of spiked cabbage, pannage, shrimp, orange juice and tap water were 62.3%, 75.8%, 71.6%, 89% and 93.9%, respectively. MISPE gave better HPLC separation efficiencies and higher recoveries than C18 SPE and strong cation exchange (SCX) SPE. Figure HPLC analysis of spiked pannage after MISPE (A) and after C18 SPE (B). HQ (1), E3 (2), p-NP (3), FTF (4), TBZ (5), PNZ (6), HXZ (7) Electronic supplementary material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at and is accessible for authorized users.     

A new molecularly imprinted polymer for selective extraction of cotinine from urine samples by solid-phase extraction

Cotinine, the main metabolite of nicotine in human body, is widely used as a biomarker for assessment of direct or passive exposure to tobacco smoke. A method for molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MISPE) of cotinine from human urine has been investigated. The molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) with good selectivity and affinity for cotinine was synthesized using cotinine as the template molecule, methacrylic acid as the functional monomer, and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as the cross-linker. The imprinted polymer was evaluated for use as a SPE sorbent, in tests with aqueous standards, by comparing recovery data obtained using the imprinted form of the polymer and a non-imprinted form (NIP). Extraction from the aqueous solutions resulted in more than 80% recovery. A range of linearity for cotinine between 0.05 and 5 μg mL⁻¹ was obtained by loading 1 mL blank urine samples spiked with cotinine at different concentrations in acetate buffer of pH 9.0, and by using double basic washing and acidic elution. The intra-day coefficient of variation (CV) was below 7% and inter-day CV was below 10%. This investigation has provided a reliable MISPE–HPLC method for determination of cotinine in human urine from both active smokers and passive smokers. Figure     

Determination of trace bisphenol A in complex samples using selective molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction coupled with capillary electrophoresis

The highly selective, fast and effective sample pretreatment technique molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MISPE) can overcome the low sensitivity of the highly efficient capillary electrophoresis-UV method (CE-UV). In this work, narrowly dispersible bisphenol A (BPA)-imprinted polymeric microspheres with a high capacity factor of k′ = 6.8 and an imprinted factor of I = 6.53 were investigated as selective solid-phase extraction (SPE) sorbents for use in extraction of BPA from different sample matrices (tap water, wastewater, Yangtze River water, soil from the Yangtze River, shrimp and human urine). Washing and eluting protocols of MISPE were optimized. Under optimal conditions, recoveries of MISPE were investigated. Recoveries were basically constant and the relative standard deviation (RSD) was lower than 5.8% when loading volumes changed from 1 to 50 mL. Recoveries ranged from 71.20% to 86.23% for different sample matrices. Compared with C18 SPE, MISPE had higher selectivity and recovery for BPA. BPA was determined with good accuracy and precision in different complex samples using CE-UV coupled with MISPE. Spiked recoveries ranged from 95.20% to 105.40%, and the RSD was less than 7.2%. Because a large loading volume was achieved, the enrichment efficiency of pretreatment and the sensitivity of this method were improved. The limits of detection of this MISPE-CE-UV method for BPA in tap water, wastewater, Yangtze River water, soil from the Yangtze River, shrimp and human urine were 3.0 μg L^− 1, 5.4 μg L^− 1, 6.9 μg L^− 1, 2.1 μg L^− 1, 1.8 μg L^− 1 and 84 μg L^− 1, respectively.     

Selective solid-phase extraction of bisphenol A using molecularly imprinted polymers and its application to biological and environmental samples

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) were prepared using bisphenol A (BPA) as a template by precipitation polymerization. The polymer that had the highest binding selectivity and ability was used as solid-phase extraction (SPE) sorbents for direct extraction of BPA from different biological and environmental samples (human serum, pig urine, tap water and shrimp). The extraction protocol was optimized and the optimum conditions were as follows: conditioning with 5 mL methanol–acetic acid (3:1), 5 mL methanol, 5 mL acetonitrile and 5 mL water, respectively, loading with 5 mL aqueous samples, washing with 1 mL acetonitrile, and eluting with 3 mL methanol. MIPs can selectively recognize, effectively trap and preconcentrate BPA over a concentration range of 2–20 μM. Recoveries ranged from 94.03 to 105.3 %, with a relative standard deviation lower than 7.9 %. Under the optimal condition, molecularly imprinted SPE recoveries of spiked human serum, pig urine, tap water and shrimp were 65.80, 82.32, 76.00 and 75.97 %, respectively, when aqueous samples were applied directly. Compared with C18 SPE, a better baseline, better high-performance liquid chromatography separation efficiency and higher recoveries were achieved after molecularly imprinted SPE.      

Development of a selective molecularly imprinted polymer-based solid-phase extraction for indomethacin from water samples

A selective molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MISPE) for indomethacin (IDM) from water samples was developed. Using IDM as template molecule, acrylamide (AM) or methacrylic acid (MAA) as functional monomer, ethylene dimethacrylate (EDMA) as crosslinker, and bulk or suspension polymerization as the synthetic method, three molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) were synthesized and characterized with a rebinding experiment. It was found that the MIP of AM-EDMA produced by bulk polymerization showed the highest binding capacity for IDM, and so it was chosen for subsequent experiments, such as those testing the selectivity and recognition binding sites. Scatchard analysis revealed that at least two kinds of binding sites formed in the MIP, with the dissociation constants of 7.8 μmol L⁻¹ and 127.2 μmol L⁻¹, respectively. Besides IDM, three structurally related compounds — acemetacin, oxaprozin and ibuprofen — were employed for selectivity tests. It was observed that the MIP exhibited the highest selective rebinding to IDM. Accordingly, the MIP was used as a solid-phase extraction sorbent for the extraction and enrichment of IDM in water samples. The extraction conditions of the MISPE column for IDM were optimized to be: chloroform or water as loading solvent, chloroform with 20% acetonitrile as washing solution, and methanol as eluting solvent. Water samples with or without spiking were extracted by the MISPE column and analyzed by HPLC. No detectable IDM was observed in tap water and the content of IDM in a river water sample was found to be 1.8 ng mL⁻¹. The extraction efficiencies of the MISPE column for IDM in spiked tap and river water were acceptable (87.2% and 83.5%, respectively), demonstrating the feasibility of the prepared MIP for IDM extraction. Figure Molecularly imprinted polymer-based solid-phase extraction for indomethacin     

Selective extraction and analysis of pioglitazone in cow plasma using a molecularly imprinted polymer combined with ESI ion mobility spectrometry

A method based on ESI ion mobility spectrometry as a detection technique after treatment with a molecularly imprinted polymer is described for the analysis of pioglitazone. In addition to the molecularly imprinted polymer separation methodology, the positive ion mobility spectrum and the reduced mobility values for pioglitazone are reported for the first time. The method was exhaustively validated in terms of sensitivity, imprinting factor, enrichment factor, and sorption capacity. A linear dynamic range of 0.10–20.00 μg/mL and an RSD below 6% were obtained for the analysis of this compound. The average recovery for the analysis of spiked samples was calculated to be about 91%. The method was also used to determine pioglitazone in cow plasma, and the results were compared with those obtained using HPLC. The satisfactory results evidence a convenient method for the analysis of the target compound in real samples without using any additional derivatization methods.     

Rationally designed molecularly imprinted polymers for selective extraction of methocarbamol from human plasma

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) with high selectivity toward methocarbamol have been computationally designed and synthesized based on the general non-covalent molecular imprinting approach. A virtual library consisting of 18 functional monomers was built and possible interactions between the template and functional monomers were investigated using a semiempirical approach. The monomers with the highest binding scores were then considered for additional calculations using a more accurate quantum mechanical (QM) calculation exploiting the density functional theory (DFT) at B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) level. The cosmo polarizable continuum model (CPCM) was also used to simulate the polymerization solvent. On the basis of computational results, acrylic acid (AA) and tetrahydrofuran (THF) were found to be the best choices of functional monomer and polymerization solvent, respectively. MIPs were then synthesized by the precipitation polymerization method and used as selective adsorbents to develop a molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MISPE) procedure before quantitative analysis. After MISPE the drug could be determined either by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), on a glassy carbon electrode modified with multiwalled-carbon nanotubes (GC/MWNT), or high performance chromatography (HPLC) with UV detection. A comparative study between MISPE-DPV and MISPE-HPLC-UV was performed. The MISPE-DPV was more sensitive but both techniques showed similar accuracy and precision.     

Porous molecularly imprinted polymer membranes and polymeric particles

Porous free-standing molecularly imprinted polymer membranes were synthesised by the method of in situ polymerisation using the principle of synthesis of interpenetrating polymer networks and tested in solid-phase extraction of triazine herbicides from aqueous solutions. Atrazine-specific MIP membranes were obtained by the UV-initiated co-polymerisation of methacrylic acid, tri(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate, and oligourethane acrylate in the presence of a template (atrazine). Addition of oligourethane acrylate provided formation of the highly cross-linked MIP in a form of a free-standing 60 μm thick flexible membrane. High water fluxes through the MIP membranes were achieved due to addition of linear polymers (polyethylene glycol M_w 20,000 and polyurethane M_w 40,000) to the initial mixture of monomers before the polymerization. As a result, typical semi-interpenetrating polymer networks (semi-IPNs) have been formed, where the cross-linked polymer was represented by the atrazine-specific molecularly imprinted polymer, while the linear one was represented by polyethylene glycol/polyurethane. Extraction of the linear polymers from the fully formed semi-IPNs resulted in formation of large pores in the membrane structure. At the same time, extraction of the template molecules lead to formation of the sites in the polymeric network, which in shape and arrangement of functional groups are complementary to atrazine. Reference polymeric membranes were prepared from the same mixture of monomers but in the absence of the template. Recognition properties of the MIP membranes were estimated in solid-phase extraction by their ability to selective re-adsorbtion of atrazine from 10⁻⁸ to 10⁻⁴ M aqueous solutions. The imprinting effect was demonstrated for both types of the MIP membranes and the influence of the type of the linear compound on their recognition properties was estimated. The recognition properties of the MIP membranes were compared to those of the MIP particles of the same composition. Morphology of the MIP membranes was investigated using the SEM microscopy. High fluxes of the developed membranes together with high affinity and adsorption capability make them an attractive alternative to MIP particles in separation processes.     

Solid-phase extraction using molecularly imprinted polymer for selective extraction of natural and synthetic estrogens from aqueous samples

A method is proposed for the clean-up and preconcentration of natural and synthetic estrogens from aqueous samples employing molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) as selective sorbent for solid-phase extraction (SPE). The selectivity of the MIP was checked toward several selected natural and synthetic estrogens such as estrone (E1), 17β-estradiol (β-E2), 17α-estradiol (α-E2), estriol (E3), 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), dienestrol (DIES) and diethylstilbestrol (DES). Ultrahigh pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled to a TSQ triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (QqQ) was used for analysis of target analytes. The chromatographic separation of the selected compounds was performed in less than 2 min under isocratic conditions. The method was applied to the analysis of estrogens in spiked river and tap water samples. High recoveries (>82%) for estrone, 17β-estradiol, 17α-estradiol, estriol and 17α-ethinylestradiol were obtained. Lower but still satisfactory recoveries (>48%) were achieved for dienestrol and diethylstilbestrol. The method was validated and found to be linear in the range 50-500 ng L(-1) with correlation coefficients (R(2)) greater than 0.995 and repeatability relative standard deviation (RSD) below 8% in all cases. For analysis of 100-mL sample, the method detection limits (LOD) ranged from 4.5 to 9.8 ng L(-1) and the limit of quantitation (LOQ) from 14.9 to 32.6 ng L(-1). To demonstrate the potential of the MIP obtained, a comparison with commercially available C(18) SPE was performed. Molecularly imprinted SPE showed higher recoveries than commercially available C(18) SPE for most of the compounds. These results showed the suitability of the MIP-SPE method for the selective extraction of a class of structurally related compounds such as natural and synthetic estrogens.     

Selective enrichment and separation of phosphotyrosine peptides by thermosensitive molecularly imprinted polymers

Novel thermosensitive molecularly imprinted polymers were successfully prepared using the epitope imprinting approach in the presence of the mimic template phenylphosphonic acid, the functional monomer vinylphosphonic acid‐Ti⁴⁺, the temperature‐sensitive monomer N‐isopropylacrylamide and the crosslinker N,N′‐methylenebisacrylamide. The ratio of the template/thermosensitive monomers/crosslinker was optimized, and when the ratio was 2:2:1, the prepared thermosensitive molecularly imprinted polymers had the highest imprinting factor. The synthetic thermosensitive molecularly imprinted polymers were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to reveal the combination and elution processes of the template. Then, the adsorption capacity and thermosensitivity was measured. When the temperature was 28°C, the imprinting factor was the highest. The selectivity and adsorption capacity of the thermosensitive molecularly imprinted polymers for phosphotyrosine peptides from a mixture of three tailor‐made peptides were measured by high‐performance liquid chromatography. The results showed that the thermosensitive molecularly imprinted polymers have good selectivity for phosphotyrosine peptides. Finally, the imprinted hydrogels were applied to specifically adsorb phosphotyrosine peptides from a sample mixture containing phosphotyrosine and a tryptic digest of β‐casein, which demonstrated high selectivity. After four rebinding cycles, 78.9% adsorption efficiency was still retained.     

Selective determination of acidic pharmaceuticals in wastewater using molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction

The determination of acidic pharmaceuticals, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs NSAIDs and clofibric acid (metabolite of clofibrate), at low ng L⁻¹ levels in wastewater requires highly selective and sensitive analytical procedures. The removal of matrix components during sample preparation results in significant benefits towards reducing the matrix effects during LC-MS analysis. Therefore this work describes a simple method to enrich and clean up NSAIDs and clofibric acid from sewage water using molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MISPE). Final analysis was performed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The performance of this method has been evaluated in fortified tap and sewage water in terms of recovery, precision, linearity, and method quantification limit. Recovery for all compounds ranged in all matrices between 84 and 116% with intra-day R.S.D. values below 11.5%. Matrix effect evaluation demonstrated that even complex sample matrixes, such as pond or sewage water did not showed significant ion suppression/enhancement compared to tap water. The performance of the method was further emphasized by the study of pond water, which receives treated water from a sewage treatment plant in south Sweden. Raw sewage and treated water were also tested. In those samples, all acidic pharmaceuticals were detected in concentration above method quantification limits ranging from 5.1 to 5153.0 ng L⁻¹.