Characterization of molecularly imprinted polymers using a new polar solvent titration method.

A new method of characterizing molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) was developed and tested, which provides a more accurate means of identifying and measuring the molecular imprinting effect. In the new polar solvent titration method, a series of imprinted and non-imprinted polymers were prepared in solutions containing increasing concentrations of a polar solvent. The polar solvent additives systematically disrupted the templation and monomer aggregation processes in the prepolymerization solutions, and the extent of disruption was captured by the polymerization process. The changes in binding capacity within each series of polymers were measured, providing a quantitative assessment of the templation and monomer aggregation processes in the imprinted and non-imprinted polymers. The new method was tested using three different diphenyl phosphate imprinted polymers made using three different urea functional monomers. Each monomer had varying efficiencies of templation and monomer aggregation. The new MIP characterization method was found to have several advantages. To independently verify the new characterization method, the MIPs were also characterized using traditional binding isotherm analyses. The two methods appeared to give consistent conclusions. First, the polar solvent titration method is less susceptible to false positives in identifying the imprinting effect. Second, the method is able to differentiate and quantify changes in binding capacity, as measured at a fixed guest and polymer concentration, arising from templation or monomer aggregation processes in the prepolymerization solution. Third, the method was also easy to carry out, taking advantage of the ease of preparing MIPs.

Solvent programmable polymers based on restricted rotation.

Solvent programmable polymers (SPPs) were developed that can modulate their recognition properties by heating in different solvents. These highly cross-linked polymer gels were able to respond to differences in solvent polarity at elevated temperatures via rotation about a C(aryl)-N(imide) bond of a carboxylic acid monomer. When heated in polar solvents such as water, the number of solvent accessible carboxylic acids in the polymers increases. When heated in nonpolar solvents such as toluene, the number of solvent accessible carboxylic acids decreases. On cooling to rt, these changes are preserved and maintained even when the polymer is removed from the solvent imprinting environment. The solvent memory is due to the reestablishment of restricted rotation around that C(aryl)-N(imide) bond, which locks the carboxylic acid recognition groups into either a solvent accessible or inaccessible orientation. The solvent programmability was also shown to be reversible. The fidelity of the SPP switching process did not decrease after five cycles of heating in polar and nonpolar solvents.

Carbohydrate recognition by porphyrin-based molecularly imprinted polymers.

[structure: see text] Porphyrin-based molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) were prepared for carbohydrate recognition. A urea-appended porphyrin functional monomer was utilized to provide complementary functionality and quality binding sites throughout the polymer. Each porphyrin-based polymer demonstrates high affinity and differential selectivity for closely related carbohydrates that correlate to the structure of the template used in the imprinting process.

Measurement of enantiomeric excess using molecularly imprinted polymers.

[reaction: see text] A new method is presented for the measurement of enantiomeric excess (ee) utilizing molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). The method is demonstrated to be accurate and rapid, as the ee values can be calculated from straightforward concentration measurements. The MIP-based assay can also be adapted to measure the ee of samples of differing initial concentrations.

Molecularly imprinted polymer sensor arrays.

An eight channel molecularly imprinted polymer sensor array was prepared that was able to differentiate six different aryl amine analytes, including diastereomers with 94% accuracy.

Characterization of the heterogeneous binding site affinity distributions in molecularly imprinted polymers.

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are polymers that can be tailored with affinity and selectivity for a molecule of interest. Offsetting the low cost and ease of preparation of MIPs is the presence of binding sites that vary widely in affinity and selectivity. Presented is a review of methods that take into account binding site heterogeneity when calculating the binding properties of MIPs. These include the bi-Langmuir, Freundlich, and Langmuir-Freundlich binding models. These methods yield a measure of heterogeneity in the form of binding site affinity distributions and the heterogeneity index. Recent developments have made these methods surprisingly easy to use while also yielding more accurate measures of the binding properties of MIPs. These have allowed for easier comparison and optimization of MIPs. Heterogeneous binding models have also led to a better understanding of the imprinting process and of the advantages and limitations of MIPs in chromatographic and sensor applications.

Molecularly imprinted polymer sensor arrays.

The sensor array format has proved an effective method of transforming sensors of modest selectivity into highly selective and discriminating sensors. The primary challenge in developing new sensor arrays is collecting together a sufficient number of recognition elements that possess different binding affinities for the analytes of interest. In this regard, the use of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) as the recognition elements in sensor arrays has a number of unique advantages. MIPs can be rapidly and inexpensively prepared with different selectivities and tuned with different selectivity patterns via the choice of templates in the imprinting process. The array format also helps compensate for the low selectivities and high cross-reactivities of MIP sensors. These attractive qualities of MIP sensor arrays have been demonstrated in recent examples, which have established the viability and generality of the approach. In particular, the versatility of the imprinting process enables MIP sensor arrays to be tailored to specific analytes. MIP sensor arrays have also shown surprisingly broad utility, as even analytes that were not used as templates in the imprinting process can be effectively discriminated.

Development of molecularly imprinted polymers as tailored templates for the solid-state [2+2] photodimerization.

In this study, a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was prepared to selectively template the [2+2] photodimerization of trans-1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene. First, an MIP selective for rctt-tetrakis(4-pyridyl)cyclobutane, which is the [2+2] photodimerization product of trans-1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene, was prepared from methacrylic acid (MAA) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA). The non-covalent MIP showed enhanced affinity for both the templating agent, rctt-tetrakis(4-pyridyl)cyclobutane, and the alkene precursor, trans-1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene. The solid-state photodimerization reaction proceeded in significantly higher yields in the presence of the MIP. Control reactions carried out in the absence of polymer gave no product, and reactions carried out in the presence of a non-imprinted polymer and an MIP imprinted with a different template, 3-hydroxymethylpyridine, gave much lower yields of the cyclobutane photodimerization product. The outcome of the MIP-templated photodimerization reaction was strongly influenced by the binding site heterogeneity of the non-covalently imprinted polymers. For example, higher yields were observed with decreasing olefin loadings levels on the MIPs. This binding site heterogeneity was characterized via application of the Freundlich binding model to the experimentally measured binding isotherms. These confirmed that the non-covalent MIPs had very few high-affinity binding sites, which greatly limits the capacity and ultimately the utility of these materials as templates in synthetic organic applications.

Comparison of monofunctional and multifunctional monomers in phosphate binding molecularly imprinted polymers.

In this study, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) prepared using a multifunctional and a monofunctional monomer were compared with respect to their affinities, selectivities, and imprinting efficiencies for organophosphates. This is of interest because multifunctional monomers have higher affinities than traditional monofunctional monomers for their target analytes and thus should yield MIPs with higher affinities and selectivities. However, polymers containing multifunctional monomer may also have a higher number of unselective, non-templated binding sites. This increase in background binding sites could lead to a decrease in the magnitude of the imprinting effect and in the selectivity of the MIP. Therefore, phosphate selective imprinted and non-imprinted polymers (NIPs) were prepared using a novel multifunctional triurea monomer. The binding properties of these polymers were compared with polymers prepared using a monofunctional monourea monomer. The binding affinities and selectivities of the monomers, imprinted polymers, and NIPs were characterized by NMR titration, binding uptake studies, and binding isotherms. MIPs prepared with the triurea monomer showed higher binding affinity and selectivity for the diphenylphosphate anion in organic solvents than the MIPs prepared with the monofunctional monomer. Surprisingly, the binding properties of the NIPs revealed that the polymers prepared using the multifunctional and monofunctional monomers were very similar in affinity and selectivity. Thus, the multifunctional monomers increase not only the affinity of the MIP but also enhance the imprinting effect.