Synthesis of molecularly imprinted polymers using acrylamide‐β‐cyclodextrin as a cofunctional monomer for the specific capture of tea saponins from the defatted cake extract of Camellia oleifera

Molecularly imprinted polymers were synthesized using mixed tea saponins as a template and acrylamide‐β‐cyclodextrin as a cofunctional monomer for the specific binding and purification of tea saponins from the defatted cake extract of Camellia oleifera. The adsorption properties of the prepared polymers were systematically evaluated including adsorption kinetics, adsorption isotherms, and selective recognition characteristics. It showed that the adsorption kinetics followed the pseudo first‐order kinetic model (R² = 0.995) with an equilibrium time of 3 h, adsorption isotherm data fitted well with the Langmuir–Freundlich model (R² = 0.984) with an adsorption capacity of 14.23 mg/g. The relative selectivity coefficient (k´) in the presence of the analogues glycyrrhizic acid and glycyrrhetinic acid were 1.16 and 17.21, respectively. The performance of the molecularly imprinted polymers as solid‐phase extraction materials was investigated and the results indicated that using acrylamide‐β‐cyclodextrin as a cofunctional monomer improved both the adsorption capacity and active sites stability of the imprinted polymers. The solid‐phase extraction using the polymers as packing materials was subsequently applied for the separation of tea saponins in raw C. oleifera press extract, and targets were obtained with a purity reaching 89%.