Thermosensitive molecularly imprinted hydrogel cross‐linked with N‐malely chitosan for the recognition and separation of BSA

A novel temperature‐sensitive molecularly imprinted hydrogel composed of N‐isopropylacrylamide and acrylamide has been prepared by using free‐radical polymerization and was cross‐linked by modified water‐soluble N‐maley chitosan in aqueous solution. BSA (pI 4.9, MW 66.0 kDa) was used as the template protein. The produced hydrogels were characterized by environmental SEM to reveal the microcosmic morphology. A microporous structure was only found in the imprinted hydrogel, while no obvious microporous structure was found in nonimprinted hydrogels. The lower critical solution temperature of the hydrogels was 34°C, and the optimal binding conditions were tested, namely, the adsorption equilibrium time of 6 h and initial BSA concentration of 1.0 mg/mL. The adsorption capacity Q_max was determined by Langmuir isotherm plots and was 5.72 mg/g for imprinted hydrogel and 1.18 mg/g for nonimprinted hydrogels. A separation factor (β) of 4 was obtained when bovine hemoglobin (pI 6.9, MW 64.0 kDa) was selected as the particular reference protein. Molecular weights and pIs were chosen to investigate the selectivity of the hydrogels. It was shown that the shape memory and the size effect were the major factors for the recognition. This imprinted hydrogel was used to specifically adsorb the BSA from the protein mixture.     

Organic–inorganic hybrid silica as supporting matrices for selective recognition of bovine hemoglobin via covalent immobilization

The synthesis of poly‐aminophenylboronic acid (APBA) imprinted hybrid silica‐based polymers for selective recognition of bovine hemoglobin (BHb) was described, where the mesoporous hybrid silica supporting matrices were prepared by a mild sol–gel process with tetraethoxysilane and 3‐aminopropyltriethoxysilane as two precursors. Covalent immobilization of BHb was adopted in order to create homogeneous recognition sites. After removal of the template, the resulting imprinted polymers showed high binding affinity toward BHb and the imprinting factor (α) reached 2.12. The specificity of the BHb recognition was evaluated with competitive experiments, indicating the imprinted polymers have a higher selectivity for the template BHb. The easy preparation protocol and good protein recognition properties made the approach an attractive solution to depletion of high‐abundance protein from bovine blood.     

Bovine serum albumin recognition via thermosensitive molecular imprinted macroporous hydrogels prepared at two different temperatures

A novel temperature-sensitive molecular imprinted hydrogel composed of 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-propanosulfonic acid (AMPS), N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm) and acrylamide (AAm) has been prepared by free-radical cross-linking copolymerization in aqueous solution under two different temperatures (25 °C and −20 °C). Bovine serum albumin (BSA, pI 4.9, MW 66.0 kDa) is used as the template protein. The influence of the external temperature stimuli on the affinity of the hydrogels was investigated, and the optimal binding conditions were tested. The adsorption capacity (Q_max) and association constant (K) for the specific interaction between the hydrogel and the template protein were determined by Langmuir isotherm plots. Several types of reference protein, which are different in molecular weights and isoelectric points were chosen to investigate the selectivity of the hydrogels. It was shown that the shape memory and the charge effect were the major factors for the recognition. This imprinted hydrogel was used to specifically adsorb the BSA from the protein mixture and real sample, which demonstrated its potential selectivity.     

Design of EGDMA‐Crosslinked Theophylline Imprinted Polymer with High Specificity and Selectivity

An attempt has been made to design theophylline selective polymers with maximum selectivity and specificity, and to relate the rebinding capacity of the polymers with the degree of crosslinking, as well as with the template‐monomer ratio. The theophylline imprinted and non‐imprinted polymers based on methacrylic acid as the functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as crosslinking agent (35–80 mol%) were prepared. The developed imprinted polymers were characterized by FT‐IR, ¹H and ¹³C‐NMR spectra. Equilibrium binding of theophylline by the imprinted and non‐imprinted polymers were investigated and optimized the conditions. Imprinted polymers showed specific binding of the template theophylline. Selectivity of the imprinted polymers was investigated towards caffeine and nicotine. Imprinted polymers showed specific and selective binding of theophylline, which varied with the degree of EGDMA crosslinking. Equilibrium rebinding experiments proved that imprinted polymer with moderate (70%) crosslinking with 1∶2 template‐functional monomer ratio is ideal with maximum specificity and selectivity.     

Preparing molecularly imprinted membranes by phase inversion to separate kaempferol

Molecularly imprinted membranes (MIMs) were studied to separate special target molecule – kaempferol, an important active pharmaceutical ingredient. The kaempferol MIM were prepared by the liquid–solid phase inversion method. The effects of polyphenylene sulfone, LiCl, and ZnCl₂ on membrane performance were studied, a high Flux MIM was prepared, then the kaempferol molecularly imprinted polymer membrane, non‐molecularly imprinted membrane, and non‐molecularly imprinted polymer membrane were prepared to investigate adsorption capacity. From adsorption isotherm curve, the maximum equilibrium adsorption quantity was 890 µg/g, and it was MIM. The MIM and molecularly imprinted polymer membrane give high selectivity towards kaempferol; the non‐molecularly imprinted membrane and non‐molecularly imprinted polymer membrane showed low adsorption quantity and selectivity. The reuse experiment of the MIM indicated that it has good reuse property. All the results showed binding sites were important in the separation process of MIMs. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparison of binding behavior for molecularly imprinted polymers prepared by hierarchical imprinting or Pickering emulsion polymerization

The aim of this study was the evaluation of the binding performances and selectivity of molecularly imprinted beads prepared toward several penicillins (i) by hierarchical bulk polymerization in the pores of template‐grafted silica microbeads (hMIPs) and (ii) by Pickering emulsion polymerization in the presence of template‐decorated silica nanobeads (pMIPs). 6‐Aminopenicillanic acid was chosen as the common fragmental mimic template. Both approaches produced micron‐sized polymeric beads with good recognition properties toward the target ligands whereas the selectivity pattern appeared quite different. The polymer prepared by the Pickering emulsion approach showed binding properties similar to imprinted beads prepared by hierarchical approach. Equilibrium binding constants changed their values from 0.1–0.2 × 10⁶ (hMIPs) to 0.2–0.6 × 10⁶ M^?1 (pMIPs), while the binding site densities changed from 3.7–4.8 (hMIPs) to 0.3–0.55 μmol/g (pMIPs). Compared to the hierarchical polymerization, Pickering emulsion polymerization represents a more practical approach when a template mimic needs to be used.     

Molecularly imprinted supermacroporous cryogels for cytochrome c recognition

Molecular imprinting is an attractive biomimetic approach that creates specific recognition sites for the shape and functional group arrangement to template molecules. The purpose of this study is to prepare cytochrome c-imprinted poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA)-based supermacroporous cryogel which can be used for the separation of cytochrome c from protein mixtures. N-Methacryloyl-(L)-histidinemethylester (MAH) was used as the metal-coordinating monomer. In the first step, Cu(2+) was complexed with MAH, and the cytochrome c imprinted PHEMA (MIP) cryogel was prepared by free radical cryopolymerization initiated by N,N,N',N'-tetramethylene diamine at -12°C. After polymerization is completed, the template cytochrome c molecules were removed from the MIP cryogel using 0.5 M NaCl solution. The maximum cytochrome c binding amount was 126 mg/g polymer. Selective binding studies were performed in the presence of lysozyme and bovine serum albumin. The relative selectivity coefficients of MIP cryogel for cytochrome c/lysozyme and cytochrome c/bovine serum albumin were 1.7 and 5.2 times greater than those of the non-imprinted PHEMA cryogel, respectively. The selectivity of MIP cryogel for cytochrome c was also confirmed with fast protein liquid chromatography. The MIP cryogel could be used many times with no remarkable decrease in cytochrome c binding capacity.     

Synthesis of thermo‐responsive bovine hemoglobin imprinted nanoparticles by combining ionic liquid immobilization with aqueous precipitation polymerization

Surface molecular imprinting over functionalized nanoparticles has proved to be an effective approach for construction of artificial nanomaterials for protein recognition. Herein, we report a strategy for synthesis of core–shell protein‐imprinted nanoparticles by the functionalization of nano‐cores with ionic liquids followed by aqueous precipitation polymerization to build thermo‐responsive imprinted polymer nano‐shells. The immobilized ionic liquids can form multiple interactions with the protein template. The polymerization process can produce thermo‐reversible physical crosslinks, which are advantageous to enhancing imprinting and facilitating template removal. With bovine hemoglobin as a model template, the imprinted nanoparticles showed temperature‐sensitivity in both dispersion behaviors and rebinding capacities. Compared with the ionic‐liquid‐modified core nanoparticles, the imprinted particles exhibited greatly increased selectivity and two orders of magnitude higher binding affinity for the template protein. The imprinted nanoparticles achieved relatively high imprinting factor up to 5.0 and specific rebinding capacity of 67.7 mg/g, respectively. These nanoparticles also demonstrated rapid rebinding kinetics and good reproducibility after five cycles of adsorption–regeneration. Therefore, the presented approach may be viable for the fabrication of high‐performance protein‐imprinted nanoparticles with temperature sensitivity.     

Preparation of a stoichiometric molecularly imprinted polymer for auramine O and application in solid‐phase extraction

We describe a stoichiometric approach to the synthesis of molecularly imprinted polymers specific for auramine O. Using the stoichiometric interaction in molecular imprinting, no excess of binding sites is necessary and binding sites are only located inside the imprinted cavities. The free base of the template was obtained to facilitate the interaction with the monomers. Itaconic acid was selected as the functional monomer, and stoichiometric ratio of the interaction with the free base was investigated. The molecularly imprinted polymer preparation conditions such as cross‐linker, molar ratio, porogen were optimized as divinylbenzene, 1:2:20 and chloroform/N,N‐dimethylformamide, respectively. Under the optimum conditions, a good imprinting effect and very high selectivity were achieved. A solid‐phase extraction method was developed using the molecularly imprinted polymers as a sorbent and extraction procedure was optimized. The solid‐phase extraction method showed a high extraction recovery for auramine O in its hydrochloride form and free form compared to its analogues. The results strongly indicated that stoichiometric imprinting is an efficient method for development of high selectivity molecularly imprinted polymers for auramine O.     

Molecularly imprinted polyethersulfone microspheres for the binding and recognition of bisphenol A

BPA-imprinted polyethersulfone (PES) microspheres for the binding and recognition of bisphenol A (BPA) were fabricated by means of a liquid-liquid phase separation technique. The imprinted novel PES microspheres had a porous structure with a skin layer, under which was followed by a finger-like structure. The recognition experiments with the BPA-imprinted microspheres were carried out by applying the microspheres to various BPA solutions. In water, high binding amounts of BPA were observed in the range of 19-42 μmol/g capacity, but the recognition was low in the BPA water solution. With the increase of the concentration in BPA solution, the binding amounts and the recognition coefficient increased. However, 1,4-butylene glycol/water media showed high recognition of the imprinted microspheres with a low binding capacity of BPA. In addtion, with the increase of the BPA amounts in the PES solution used to prepare the imprinted microspheres, the specific recognition sites increased, and the recognition ability increased. Evidence revealed that microsphere recognition was effective for BPA due to the binding to specific recognition sites [S]_(sites). The imprinted microspheres showed the selectivity for BPA in the wine including BPA and other organic compounds. Charge transfer and special cavities could be employed to explain the mechanism.     

Preparation and Adsorption Characteristics of Cordycepin Molecularly Imprinted Polymers

The separation of a molecularly imprinted polymer for cordycepin was investigated. The synthesis employed cordycepin as the molecular template, alpha-methylacrylic acid as the functional monomer, glycol dimethyl acrylate as the cross-linking agent, azobisisobutyronitrile as the initiator, and tetrahydrofuran as the solvent and pore-foaming agent. The interaction between cordycepin and the functional monomer was investigated by ultraviolet-visible and infrared spectroscopy. The properties of the molecularly imprinted polymer were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, equilibrium adsorption experiments, and the Scatchard equation. Static adsorption, solid phase extraction, and high-performance liquid chromatography experiments were employed to evaluate the adsorption properties and selective recognition characteristics. The results showed that the molecularly imprinted polymer had specific adsorption with cordycepin, and the maximum absorption capacity was 1920 µg/g. Scatchard analysis suggested that high affinity and low affinity binding sites were present. For the high affinity case, the dissociation constant and apparent maximum numbers of the binding sites were 0.0089 mmol/L and 4.78 µmol/g, respectively. The dissociation constant and apparent numbers of binding sites were 0.035 mmol/L and 6.047 µmol/g for the low affinity sites. Compared with the corresponding nonimprinted polymer, the cordycepin molecularly imprinted polymer exhibited higher adsorption and selectivity for cordycepin than structural analogs.     

Dependence of Protein Recognition of Temperature‐Sensitive Imprinted Hydrogels on Preparation Temperature

Temperature‐sensitive imprinted and non‐imprinted hydrogels composed of N‐isopropylacrylamide (NIPA) and 2‐acrylamido‐2‐methyl‐propanosulfonic acid (AMPS) have been prepared by free‐radical crosslinking copolymerization in aqueous solution at three different temperatures: 10 °C (below the lower critical solution temperature, LCST), 33 °C (at the LCST), and 40 °C (above the LCST). Myoglobin (Mb, MW 17 kDa) is used as the template biomolecule. The effects of the initial concentration and adsorption time over the Mb adsorption capacity of the hydrogels have been analyzed and found to be strongly dependent on the preparation temperature (T_prep). The maximum Mb adsorption for the imprinted hydrogel prepared at 10 °C is 97.40 ± 2.35 mg Mb · g⁻¹ dry gel in 0.32 mg · mL⁻¹ Mb solution at 22 °C. Moreover, batch adsorption equilibrium and selectivity studies have been performed using a reference molecule, hemoglobin (Hb, MW 65 kDa). The imprinted hydrogels have a 2.8–3.3 times higher adsorption capacity for Mb than the non‐imprinted hydrogels prepared at the same T_preps, and also have a 1.8–2.7 times higher selectivity for the imprinted molecule.

     

Preparation of Imprinted PVB/β‐CD Nanofiber by Electrospinning Technique and Its Selective Binding Abilities for Naringin

A novel molecularly imprinted composite nanofiber was prepared by a simple electrospinning technique, in which polyvinylbutyral (PVB) was chosen as matrix, β‐cyclodextrin (β‐CD) was used as a functional monomer and naringin (NG) as template molecules. After cross‐linked by hexamethylene diisocyanate (HMDI), the composite nanofiber exhibited a high specific binding capacity. The morphological structure of the nanofibers was studied by means of infrared spectrum (IR), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The β‐CD molecules were mostly homogeneously distributed within the PVB nanofiber without forming phase separated crystalline aggregates. Compared with traditional imprinted β‐CD polymer, the binding experiments demonstrated that the molecularly imprinted composite nanofiber shows the specific binding sites and the selective binding ability for NG. The molecularly imprinted nanofiber could be used at least six times without any loss in binding capacity.     

Identification of salicylic acid using surface modified polyurethane film using an imprinted layer of polyaniline

The surface of polyurethane (PU) was modified by coating a thin layer of polyaniline (PAN) by oxidizing aniline using ammonium persulfate. Affinity sites for salicylic acid (SA) were created in the coated layer by non-covalent imprinting method. The imprinted layer adsorbed SA five times more compared to the nonimprinted surface reflecting the creation of affinity sites specific to SA on the surface. The equilibrium was attained relatively faster indicating that a material of this kind is suitable for sensing applications. The selectivity in recognizing the print molecule by the imprinted surface was assessed by comparing the extent of uptake of other structurally resembling molecules namely O-amino benzoic acid and acetyl salicylic acid. The selectivity factor was found to be 22 and 16.5. The adsorbed SA was detected using the technique of Fourier transform attenuated total internal reflection infrared spectroscopy (FT-ATR-IR). The results show that molecularly imprinted surface in combination with FT-IR is a useful approach for the sensing applications.     

4-氨基吡啶分子模板聚合物选择性识别及结合性质的研究

以4-氨基吡啶为模板分子制备了对4-氨基吡啶具有特异选择性的模板聚合物.制得的棒状聚合物经研磨、过筛后,采用平衡结合方法评价了该模板聚合物的结合特性.Scatchard分析表明,在所研究的浓度范围内,聚合物中形成了两类不同的结合位点,这两类结合位点的离解常数采用多点结合模型计算得到的值分别为6.0μmol/L和1.2mmol/L.底物选择性表明,与其它结构相似的分子相比,该聚合物对模板分子4-氨基吡啶显示了很强的结合能力.₁HNMR研究及4-氨基吡啶共振结构分析表明,模板分子与聚合物中的结合位点之间的作用为离子作用.     

药物头孢氨苄分子模板聚合物水中结合性质的研究

采用分子模板技术合成了以头孢氨苄为模板分子以三氟甲基丙烯酸和４－乙烯基吡啶同时为功能单体的分子模板聚合物。将得到的棒状聚合物研磨过筛后,运用平衡结合实验研究了头孢氨苄分子模板聚合物的结合性质,Ｓｃａｔｃｈａｒｄ分析表明,在所研究的浓度范围内,在聚合物中形成了两类不同的结合位点。头孢氨苄分子模板聚合物与其化学组成相同的非模板聚合物相比,有很高的结合容量。底物选择性实验表明,与其它结构相似的药物相比,     

Molecularly imprinted polymers for the selective extraction of tiliroside from the flowers of Edgeworthia gardneri (wall.) Meisn

Nano‐sized molecularly imprinted polymers for tiliroside were successfully prepared by a precipitation polymerization method. Acrylamide, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, azobisisobutyronitrile, and acetonitrile/dimethyl sulfoxide were used as functional monomer, cross‐linker, initiator, and porogen, respectively. The structural features and morphological characterization of tiliroside‐imprinted polymers were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The adsorption experiments indicated that the tiliroside‐imprinted polymers exhibited high selective recognition property to tiliroside. Scatchard analysis indicated that the homogeneous‐binding sites were formed in the polymers. The selectivity test revealed that the adsorption capacity and selectivity of polymers to tiliroside was significantly higher than that of rutin, astragalin, and kaempferol. Finally, the tiliroside‐imprinted polymers were employed as adsorbents in solid‐phase extraction for the extraction of tiliroside from the ethyl acetate extract of the flowers of Edgeworthia gardneri (wall.) Meisn. The results demonstrated that the extraction recoveries of tiliroside ranged from 69.3 to 73.5% by using tiliroside‐imprinted polymers coupled with solid‐phase extraction method. These results indicated that the tiliroside‐based molecularly imprinted solid‐phase extraction method was proven to be an effective technique for the separation and enrichment of tiliroside from natural medicines.     

A molecularly imprinted polymer receptor for the enantiomeric recognition of amino acid hydantoins mimicking cooperative hydrogen bonds between nucleotide bases

Using acrylamide as hydrogen bonding functional monomer and (5R)-5-benzylhydantoin as template, a molecularly imprinted polymer was prepared in a polar solvent, which exhibited good enantiomeric recognition properties. The binding characteristics and selectivity of the polymer were evaluated by batch methods. Scatchard analysis showed that two classes of binding sites were produced in the polymer matrix and their dissociation constants were calculated to be 3.5 × 10-5mol/L and 4.3 ×10-4 mol/L, respectively, by utilizing the model of multiple independent classes of binding sites. These results were more reasonable than those obtained by Scatchard analysis , which was in agreement with the prediction of the binding characteristics of the polymer by exploring the effect of acrylamide on UV spectra of (5R)-5-benzylhydantoin. The substrate- and enantio-selectivity of the polymer was investigated. Finally, the study of effect of water on the chiral separation factor of the polymer further proved that the hy     

Preparation and Recognition Properties of Vanillin‐Imprinted Polymers

Some new molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) were prepared by different protocols involving vanillin as the imprinted molecule, methacrylic acid (= 2‐methylprop‐2‐enoic acid; MAA) as the functional monomer, and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA = 2‐methylprop‐2‐enoic acid ethane‐1,2‐diyl ester) as the cross‐linking agent. The adsorption property of the imprinted polymers was studied by UV spectrophotometry and HPLC. The results indicated that the porogen solvent had a certain influence on the adsorption performance of the polymer. The vanillin‐imprinted polymer MIP₁ prepared with MeOH as porogen, exhibited advantageous characteristics, i.e., a high binding activity, a good selectivity, and a rapid adsorption equilibrium. The binding parameters studied by Scatchard analysis established that there are two types of binding sites in MIP₁. Finally, by packing an SPE column (SPE = solid‐phase extraction) with the polymer MIP₁, the vanillin was separated and enriched successfully by this sorbent from the samples of Vanilla fragrans and beer.     

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.