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This review describes the recent advances from the past five years concerning the development and applications of molecularly imprinted membranes (MIMs) in the field of sample treatment and separation processes. After a short introduction, where the importance of these materials is highlighted, a description of key aspects of membrane separation followed by the strategies of preparation of these materials is described. The review continues with several analytical applications of these MIMs for sample preparation as well as for separation purposes covering pharmaceutical, food, and environmental areas. Finally, a discussion focused on possible future directions of these materials in extraction and separation field is also given.

In this study, porous polymer monoliths were in situ synthesized in fluoropolymers tubing to prepare microbore HPLC columns. To ensure the formation of robust homogeneous polymer monoliths in these housing supports, the inner surface of fluoropolymer tubing was modified in a two-step photografting process. Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed the successful modification of the inner poly(ethylene-co-tetrafluoroethylene) (ETFE) wall and the subsequent attachment of a monolith onto the wall. Poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-divinylbenzene), poly(butyl methacrylate-co-ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate) and poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) monoliths were in situ synthesized by thermal polymerization within the confines of surface vinylized ETFE tubes. The resulting monoliths exhibited good permeability and mechanical stability (pressure resistance up to 9 MPa). The chromatographic performance of these different monolithic columns was evaluated via the separation of alkyl benzenes and proteins in a conventional HPLC system.

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This paper reports an economic, simple and rapid FI-CL method for the determination of MCPA. This method requires simple instrumentation and it is fast enough to be used in routine analyses. Chemiluminescence signal is generated by reaction between photodegraded MCPA and ferricyanide solution in alkaline medium. All physical and chemical parameters in the flow injection chemiluminescence system were optimized in the experimental setting. To eliminate the interferences a solid phase extraction stage with SDB-1 cartridges and ethanol elution is applied. The signal-MCPA concentration relation is linear in concentration intervals between 0.0015 μg·mL -1 and 0.6 μg·mL -1 . The calibration lines are statistically similar in different working conditions: standards with ethanol without extraction and standards with ethanol and extraction, allowing standards to be excluded from the extraction step, which simplifies the process. The detection limit (DL) is 0.5 ng·mL -1 , which is the same order as the maximum limit established in legislation regarding pesticide limits in water destined for human consumption. A DL of 0.13 ng·mL -1 can be reached if a sample of 100 mL is preconcentrated. The interday variance coefficient is 3% and the sample throughput is 90 hour -1 . The water analysis method is efficient with relative error percentages lower than 5% with respect to the added concentration.

A new, fast, selective and sensitive method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of nine organothiophosphorus (OTP) pesticides, namely omethoate, dimethoate, disulfoton-sulfoxide, methidathion, phosmet, malathion, diazinon, pirimiphos-methyl and chlorpyrifos. The pesticides were separated on a Kinetex C18 column by gradient elution with acetonitrile:water. A post-column basic hydrolysis of the pesticides and later a chemiluminescence (CL) reaction with cerium (IV) in acid medium was carried out. Hexadecylpyridinium chloride highly enhanced the CL emission. Under optimized conditions, linearity, precision, limits of detection and quantification, and accuracy were determined. Both selectivity and sensitivity were compared with those obtained with UV detection. In combination with SPE, limits of detection in the range 15-80 ng/L and 5-30 ng/L were obtained when 250 mL and 1000 mL of solution were treated, respectively. When applied to 250 mL of sample the inter-day precision of the method was between 3.5% and 7.3% and the intra-day precision between 2.9% and 6.0%. The method was applied to determine OTP pesticides in spiked water samples from different origins: irrigation, river, sea, ground, spring, mineral and tap waters, being the percentage of recovery of added amounts near 100% form most of the pesticides.

An automatic method has been developed for the estimation of organic amino nitrogen (CH2-NH) and ammonium in water samples. We propose a continuous flow system in which nitrogen compounds react with hypochlorite reagent to produce chloramines. Subsequently, the mixture is mixed with luminol, generating a chemiluminescence signal. The signal emission at 425 nm, registered as a function of time, decreases as nitrogen concentration increases, due to the decrease on hypochlorite concentration. A large number of nitrogen compounds have been assayed and their sensitivities compared, in milligrams per liter nitrogen. The ammonium calibration graph, expressed as N, can be used for most of the assayed compounds. The linear interval was 0.24-4 mg L(-1) N, with the detection limit 0.07 mg L(-1) N. The chemiluminescence method was applied to the analysis of several kinds of real water samples, natural, lake, irrigation ditch, fountain, residual, and seawater in order to detect possible sources of eutrophication. The accuracy (% relative error) and precision were satisfactory, with mean values of 5 +/- 4 and 3 +/- 2, respectively. This procedure has been used to estimate nitrogen content in samples before and after Kjeldahl treatment. In the same samples, the N found for the untreated samples provided a good estimation of the N Kjeldahl. Sixty samples per hour can be analyzed, and the procedure can also be used for in situ monitoring.