Theoretical and experimental research on the self‐assembled system of molecularly imprinted polymers formed by salbutamol and methacrylic acid

The quantum chemical method was applied for screening functional monomers in the rational design of salbutamol‐imprinted polymers. Salbutamol was the template molecule, and methacrylic acid was the single functional monomer. The LC‐WPBE/6–31G(d,p) method was used to investigate the geometry optimization, active sites, natural bond orbital charges, binding energies of the imprinted molecule, and solvation energy. The mechanism of action between salbutamol and methacrylic acid was also discussed. The theoretical results show that salbutamol interacts with functional monomers by hydrogen bonds, and the salbutamol‐imprinted polymers with a ratio of 1:4 (salbutamol/methacrylic acid) in acetonitrile had the highest stability. The salbutamol‐imprinted polymers were prepared by precipitation polymerization. The experimental results indicated that the maximum adsorption capacity for salbutamol toward molecularly imprinted polymers was 7.33 mg/g, and the molecularly imprinted polymers had a higher selectivity for salbutamol than for norepinephrine and terbutaline sulfate. Herein, the studies can provide theoretical and experimental references for the salbutamol molecular imprinted system.     

Preparation of melamine molecularly imprinted polymer by computer‐aided design

Melamine was chosen as template, methacrylic acid was chosen as functional monomer, and divinylbenzene, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, trimethylolpropane trimethylacrylate were chosen as cross‐linking agents, respectively. The WB97XD/6‐31G(d, p) method was used to calculate the geometry optimization of the different imprinting ratios, the action sites, the bonding situation, and the optimization of the cross‐linking agents. The nature of the imprinting effect was also studied by the atoms in molecules theory. The theoretical results showed that melamine interacts with methacrylic acid by hydrogen bonding, and the melamine molecularly imprinted polymers with a molar ratio of 1:6 have the most hydrogen bonds and the most stable structure. Divinylbenzene is the best cross‐linking agent for the melamine molecularly imprinted polymers. The melamine molecularly imprinted polymers were synthesized by precipitation polymerization. The results showed that the maximum adsorption capacity for molecularly imprinted polymers towards melamine is 19.84 mg/g, and the adsorption quantity of the polymers to melamine is obviously higher than that of cyromazine, cyanuric acid, and trithiocyanuric in milk. This study could provide theoretical and experimental references for the screening of the imprinting ratio and the cross‐linking agent for the given template and monomer system.     

State‐of‐the‐art applications of cyclodextrins as functional monomers in molecular imprinting techniques: a review

As a versatile tool in separation science, cyclodextrins and their derivatives, known as emerging functional monomers, have been used extensively in molecular imprinting techniques. The attributes of cyclodextrins and their derivatives are widely known to form host–guest inclusion complex processes between the polymer and template. The exploitation of the imprinting technique could produce a product of molecularly imprinted polymers, which are very robust with long‐term stability, reliability, cost‐efficiency, and selectivity. Hence, molecularly imprinted polymers have gained popularity in chemical separation and analysis. Molecularly imprinted polymers containing either cyclodextrin or its derivatives demonstrate superior binding effects for a target molecule. As noted in the previous studies, the functional monomers of cyclodextrins and their derivatives have been used in molecular imprinting for selective separation with a wide range of chemical compounds, including steroidals, amino acids, polysaccharides, drugs, plant hormones, proteins, pesticides, and plastic additives. Therefore, the main goal of this review is to illustrate the exotic applications of imprinting techniques employing cyclodextrins and their derivatives as single or binary functional monomers in synthesizing molecularly imprinted polymers in areas of separation science by reviewing some of the latest studies reported in the literature.     

Binding characteristics of molecularly imprinted polymers based on fungicides in hydroalcoholic media

An iprodione‐imprinted polymer was prepared by copolymerization of methacrylamide and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate using a noncovalent imprinting approach. Methacrylamide was chosen using molecular dynamics simulations. To concentrate iprodione from hydro‐alcoholic solutions, batch sorption of iprodione on the imprinted polymer were conducted. The equilibrium time for iprodione sorption is 20 min, and the corresponding kinetic mechanism follows the pseudo‐second order indicating a strong interaction between iprodione and the imprinted polymer. Langmuir, Freundlich, and Dubinin–Radushkevich models were used to fit the isotherm of iprodione sorption. The imprinted polymer was found to be more efficient than the nonimprinted polymer for the uptake of iprodione, as revealed by its higher adsorption energy, affinity, and capacity. Finally, a selectivity study was conducted on the imprinted and the nonimprinted polymers to sorb three fungicides. It shows that the imprinted polymer could be used as a preconcentration phase in a multiresidue analysis of fungicides in hydroalcoholic medium.     

Halloysite‐based dopamine‐imprinted polymer for selective protein capture

We describe a facile, general, and highly efficient approach to obtain polydopamine‐coated molecularly imprinted polymer based on halloysite nanotubes for bovine serum albumin. The method combined surface molecular imprinting and one‐step immobilized template technique. Hierarchically structured polymer was prepared in physiological conditions adopting dopamine as functional monomer. A thin layer of polydopamine can be coated on the surface of amino‐modified halloysite nanotubes by self‐polymerization, and the thickness of the imprinted shells can be controlled by the mass ratio of matrix and dopamine. The polymer was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, transmission electron microscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. The prepared material showed high binding capacity (45.4 mg/g) and specific recognition behavior toward the template protein. In addition, stability and regeneration analyses indicated that the imprinted polymer exhibited excellent reusability (relative standard deviation < 9% for batch‐to‐batch evaluation). Therefore, the developed polymer is effective for protein recognition and separation.     

Water‐compatible halloysite‐imprinted polymer by Pickering emulsion polymerization for the selective recognition of herbicides

A water‐compatible molecularly imprinted polymer was prepared by Pickering emulsion polymerization using halloysite nanotubes as stabilized solid particles. During polymerization, we used 4‐vinylpyridine as monomer, divinylbenzene as cross‐linking agent, toluene as porogen, 2,2‐azobisisobutyronitrile as initiator, 2,4‐dichlorophenoxyacetic acid as template to form the oil phase, and Triton X‐100 aqueous solution to form the water phase. The halloysite nanotubes molecularly imprinted polymer was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Kinetic and equilibrium bindings were also employed to evaluate the adsorption properties of the imprinted polymer. The imprinted polymer showed better selectivity, more rapid kinetic binding (60 min) for 2,4‐dichlorophenoxyacetic acid in pure water compared with rebinding in toluene. The imprinted polymer was used as a sorbent to enrich and separate 2,4‐dichlorophenoxyacetic acid from water, and was detected by high‐performance liquid chromatography with UV detection.     

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.     

Determination of melamine in aquaculture feed samples based on molecularly imprinted solid‐phase extraction

This research highlights the application of highly efficient molecularly imprinted solid‐phase extraction for the preconcentration and analysis of melamine in aquaculture feed samples. Melamine‐imprinted polymers were synthesized employing methacrylic acid and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as functional monomer and cross‐linker, respectively. The characteristics of obtained polymers were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and binding experiments. The imprinted polymers showed an excellent adsorption ability for melamine and were applied as special solid‐phase extraction sorbents for the selective cleanup of melamine. An off‐line molecularly imprinted solid‐phase extraction procedure was developed for the separation and enrichment of melamine from aquaculture feed samples prior to high‐performance liquid chromatography analysis. Optimum molecularly imprinted solid‐phase extraction conditions led to recoveries of the target in spiked feed samples in the range 84.6–96.6% and the relative standard deviation less than 3.38% (n = 3). The aquaculture feed sample was determined, and there was no melamine found. The results showed that the molecularly imprinted solid‐phase extraction protocols permitted the sensitive, uncomplicated and inexpensive separation and pre‐treatment of melamine in aquaculture feed samples.     

Selective recognition and discrimination of water‐soluble azo dyes by a seven‐channel molecularly imprinted polymer sensor array

A seven‐channel molecularly imprinted polymer sensor array was prepared and characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, UV‐Vis spectroscopy, and nitrogen physisorption studies. The results revealed that the imprinted polymers have distinct‐binding affinities from those of structurally similar azo dyes. Analysis of the UV‐Vis spectral response patterns of the seven dye analytes against the imprinted polymer array suggested that the different selectivity patterns of the array were closely connected to the imprinting process. To evaluate the effectiveness of the array format, the binding of a series of analytes was individually measured for each of the seven polymers, made with different templates (including one control polymer synthesized without the use of a template). The response patterns of the array to the selected azo dyes were processed by canonical discriminant analysis. The results showed that the molecularly imprinted array was able to discriminate each analyte with 100% accuracy. Moreover, the azo dyes in two real samples, spiked chrysoidin in smoked bean curd extract and Fanta lime soda (containing tartrazine), were successfully classified by the array.     

Colorimetric test-systems for creatinine detection based on composite molecularly imprinted polymer membranes

An easy-to-use colorimetric test-system for the efficient detection of creatinine in aqueous samples was developed. The test-system is based on composite molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) membranes with artificial receptor sites capable of creatinine recognition. A thin MIP layer was created on the surface of microfiltration polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes using method of photo-initiated grafting polymerization. The MIP layer was obtained by co-polymerization of a functional monomer (e.g. 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid, itaconic acid or methacrylic acid) with N, N′-methylenebisacrylamide as a cross-linker. The choice of the functional monomer was based on the results of computational modeling. The creatinine-selective composite MIP membranes were used for measuring creatinine in aqueous samples. Creatinine molecules were selectively adsorbed by the MIP membranes and quantified using color reaction with picrates. The intensity of MIP membranes staining was proportional to creatinine concentration in an analyzed sample. The colorimetric test-system based on the composite MIP membranes was characterized with 0.25 mM detection limit and 0.25–2.5 mM linear dynamic range. Storage stability of the MIP membranes was estimated as at least 1 year at room temperature. As compared to the traditional methods of creatinine detection the developed test-system is characterized by simplicity of operation, small size and low cost.     

The use of molecularly imprinted polymers for the multicomponent determination of endocrine‐disrupting compounds in water and sediment

The method employing molecularly imprinted polymers for the extraction and clean up of endocrine‐disrupting compounds (estrogens, bisphenol A, and alkylphenols) from water and sediment is described. The identical extraction/clean‐up and LC‐MS/MS condition were used for the analysis of both types of samples. The method showed high recoveries ranging from 90 to 99% with excellent precision (intrabatch: 3.6–9.3%; interbatch: 5.6–11.4% for water; intrabatch: 4.3–8.5%; interbatch: 6.1–9.6% for sediment). The LOD was in the range of 0.7–1.9 ng/L and 0.3–0.6 ng/g for water and sediment, respectively. Overall extraction on molecularly imprinted polymers substantially enhanced sample clean‐up. The difference in efficiency of clean‐up was particularly pronounced when a large sample volume/weight was extracted and analyzed. Finally, the method was successfully applied for the analysis of 20 water and sediment samples.     

Assessment of the binding performance of histamine‐imprinted microspheres by frontal analysis capillary electrophoresis

Frontal analysis capillary electrophoresis was used to evaluate the binding performance of molecularly imprinted microspheres (MIM) toward its template histamine and analogs at pH 7, and compared to the high performance liquid chromatographic method. In both methods, batch binding was employed and the binding parameters were calculated from the measured concentration of unbound amine analytes and afforded comparable histamine equilibrium dissociation constants (K _d ∼ 0.4 mM). FACE was easily carried out at shorter binding equilibration time (i.e. 30 min) and without the need to separate the microspheres, circumventing laborious and, in the case of the system under study, inefficient sample filtration. It also allowed for competitive binding studies by virtue of its ability to distinctly separate intact microspheres and all tested amines which could not be resolved in HPLC. K _d’s for nonimprinted (control) microspheres (NIM) from FACE and HPLC were also comparable (∼ 0.6 mM) but at higher histamine concentrations, HPLC gave lower histamine binding. This discrepancy was attributed to inefficient filtration of the batch binding samples prior to HPLC analysis resulting in an over‐estimation of the concentration of free histamine brought about by the presence of unfiltered histamine‐bound microspheres.     

Theoretical and experimental research on self‐assembly system of molecularly imprinted polymers formed via chloramphenicol and methacrylic acid

Chloramphenicol was chosen as the imprinting molecule and the methacrylic acid was chosen as the functional monomer to prepare molecularly imprinted polymers. Ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, pentaerythritol triacrylate, and trimethylolpropane trimethylacrylate were used as the cross‐linking agents, respectively. The interaction processes between chloramphenicol and methacrylic acid were simulated by using the ωB97XD/6‐31G (d,p) method. The self‐assembled configuration, bonding sites, binding number, binding energy, and interaction principle of stable complex formed by chloramphenicol and methacrylic acid with different molar ratios have been studied. The selectivity of the most stable complex formed from chloramphenicol and methacrylic acid was discussed with the thiamphenicol and florfenicol as the analogues of chloramphenicol. The results showed that chloramphenicol and methacrylic acid were interacted through the hydrogen bonds. When the molar ratio was 1:10 and pentaerythritol triacrylate as the cross‐linking agent, the ordered complex formed by chloramphenicol and methacrylic acid has the largest amount of hydrogen bonds and the lowest binding energy. Scatchard analysis showed that the maximum apparent adsorption capacity was 173.3 mg/g (0.536 mol/g), and the selection factor of florfenicol was the largest. This study provides a reliable theoretical and experimental basis for the design, preparation, and characterization of chloramphenicol molecularly imprinted polymers.     

Computational and experimental study on the influence of the porogen on the selectivity of 4-nitrophenol molecularly imprinted polymers

In molecular imprinting the porogen plays a decisive role, as it not only affects the physical properties of the resulting polymer including its porosity, the specific surface area, and the swelling behavior, but also governs the stability of the prepolymerization complex, which in turn decisively determines the recognition properties of the resulting molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP).     

Preparation and application of hollow molecularly imprinted polymers with a super‐high selectivity to the template protein

Protein‐imprinted polymers with hollow cores that have a super‐high imprinting factor were prepared by etching the core of the surface‐imprinted polymers that used silica particles as the support. Lysozyme as template was modified onto the surface of silica particles by a covalent method, and after polymerization and the removal of template molecules, channels through the polymer layer were formed, which allowed a single‐protein molecule to come into the hollow core and attach to the binding sites inside the polymer layer. The adsorption experiments demonstrated that the hollow imprinted polymers had an extremely high binding capacity and selectivity, and thus a super‐high imprinting factor was obtained. The as‐prepared imprinted polymers were used to separate the template lysozyme from egg white successfully, indicating its high selectivity and potential application in the field of separation of protein from real samples.     

Synthesis and characterisation of molecularly imprinted catalytic microgels for carbonate hydrolysis

Novel molecularly imprinted microgels incorporating arginine and tyrosine side chains as functional monomers have been designed and synthesised with percentages of cross-linker ranging from 70 to 90%. Full chemico-physical characterisation including M_r, coil density and size particle determination concluded that all polymer preparations obtained can be classified as microgels. Molecular imprinting using a phosphate template was used to generate catalytic microgels for the hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl carbonates. Kinetic characterisation of the catalytic activity of the different preparations indicated that values of critical monomer concentration (C_M) and percentage of cross-linker play an important role in determining the catalytic efficiency of the different preparations. Microgels containing 70% cross-linker were the only ones following the Michaelis-Menten saturation model and kinetic parameters were obtained using 4 mg/ml of M397: V_max = 1.34 × 10⁻⁶ M s⁻¹ (S.E. 1.28 × 10⁻⁷) and K_M = 2.38 × 10⁻³ M (S.E. 3.1 × 10⁻⁴).     

Zwitterionic molecularly imprinted polymer‐based solid‐phase micro‐extraction coupled with molecularly imprinted polymer sensor for ultra‐trace sensing of L‐histidine

The proposed L ‐histidine sensing system composed of a molecularly imprinted solid‐phase microextraction component combined with a molecularly imprinted polymer sensor was used to determine critical levels of test analyte in a complex matrix of highly diluted human blood serum without any non‐specific sorption and false‐positive contributions. The molecularly imprinted polymer was a zwitterionic polymer brush derived from the disodium salt of EDTA and chloranil, grafted to solid‐phase microextraction material. The hyphenated approach was able to detect L ‐histidine quantitatively with a limit of detection as low as 0.0435 ng/mL (RSD = 0.2%, S/N = 3).     

Determination of fusaric acid in maize using molecularly imprinted SPE clean‐up

A new LC method to detect fusaric acid (FA) in maize is reported based on a molecularly imprinted SPE clean‐up using mimic‐templated molecularly imprinted polymers. Picolinic acid was used as a toxin analog for imprinting polymers during a thermolytic synthesis. Both acidic and basic functional monomers were predicted to have favorable binding interactions by MP2 ab initio calculations. Imprinted polymers synthesized with methacrylic acid or 2‐dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate exhibited imprinting effects in SPE analysis. FA levels were determined using RP ion‐pairing chromatography with diode‐array UV detection and tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate in the mobile phase. A method was developed to detect FA in maize using molecularly imprinted SPE analysis within the range of 1–100 μg/g with recoveries between 83.9 and 92.1%.     

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.     

On‐line determination of 4‐nitrophenol by combining molecularly imprinted solid‐phase extraction and fiber‐optic spectrophotometry

In the present paper, we describe a new on‐line SPE system where molecular imprinting, fiber‐optic detection and flow injection analysis were combined for the first time. This new system has been applied for the on line detection of 4‐nitrophenol (4‐NP). Initially, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) have been prepared for the selective extraction of 4‐NP using 4‐vinylpyridine and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as functional and cross‐linking monomers, respectively. Selective extraction was achieved using the designed MIP with 97% of recovery on imprinted polymer and 10% on control polymer. The system provided a high degree of accuracy, with RSDs varying between 0.7 and 1.39%. In respect of accuracy, reproducibility, and rapidity, this system is comparable with HPLC. In short, the system allows simple, fast, and accurate analyte determination with the possibility of future automation.