Molecularly imprinted polymers and their application in solid phase extraction

Abstract

Solid phase extraction is routinely used in many different areas of analytical chemistry. Some of the main fields are environmental, biological, and food chemistry, where cleaning and pre-concentration of the sample are important steps in the analytical protocol. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have attracted attention because they show promise as compound-selective or group-selective media. The application of these synthetic polymers as sorbents allows not only pre-concentration and cleaning of the sample but also selective extraction of the target analyte, which is important, particularly when the sample is complex and impurities can interfere with quantification. This review surveys the selectivity of MIPs in solid phase extraction of various kinds of analytes.

Novel Hg2+-imprinted polymers based on thymine–Hg2+–thymine interaction for highly selective preconcentration of Hg2+ in water samples

“…Binding sites with molecular recognition properties are formed after template molecules have been removed from the polymerized material, leaving behind cavities for the subsequent rebinding process that are complementary in size and shape to the template molecules [1][2][3]. In the past few decades, MIPs have aroused extensive attentions and been widely applied in many fields, such as solid-phase extraction (SPE) [4,5] and chemical sensors [6,7], owing to their desired selectivity, physical robustness, thermal stability, as well as low cost and easy preparation. Up to date, most of organic molecules [8,9], inorganic metal ions [10][11][12] and biological macromolecules [13,14] have been used as templates to prepare MIPs.…”

Current Trends in Sample Treatment Techniques for Environmental and Food Analysis

“…Out of all the MIPs applications, the use of MIPs as selective sorbents for solid-phase extraction (MIP-SPE) represents the most important application area in the field of analytical separation sciences [54]. Solid-phase extraction (SPE) is a well-established method routinely used for clean-up and pre-concentration of analytes in a wide range of environmental, pharmaceutical, agricultural and food analysis [1].…”

“…In the normal phase approach, the sample is usually percolated though the MIP-SPE column using the same solvent that was used as porogen for the MIP synthesis. Under this condition, the target analyte develops specific interactions with the monomer residues present in the polymer cavities, resulting in selective adsorption and molecular recognition by MIP due to the well-known solvent "memory" effect [54].…”

Solid-Phase Extraction for Enrichment and Separation of Herbicides

“…These polymers are able to rebind selectively the template molecule or its structural analogues. The right selection of functional monomers is important in molecular imprinting because the interactions with functional groups affect the affinity of MIPs (Lasákova & Jandera, 2009). Molecular modelling can be used to predict which functional monomers are capable to form effective polymers as some monomers have a natural affinity to some herbicides (Breton et al, 2007).…”