Molecularly imprinted polymer functionalized silica nanoparticles for enantioseparation of racemic tryptophan in aqueous solution.

A method has been developed for preparation of surface molecularly imprinted polymer functionalized silica nanoparticles (SiO2@MPS@MIP). Firstly, the silica nanoparticles are prepared by a one-pot sol-gel method using tetraethylorthosilicate and 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane as functional monomers. Next, the template molecule (L-Trp) is self-assembled with the functional monomer (acrylamide). Finally, SiO2@MPS@MIP are prepared using N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide as the cross-linker. The prepared SiO2@MPS@MIP have an average diameter of about 6.3 ± 1.2 nm. They exhibit good selectivity toward L-Trp with an imprinting factor of 6.3. The adsorption isotherm data was well described by the Langmuir model. The maximum adsorption capacities of SiO2@MPS@MIP for L-Trp and D-Trp were calculated to be 11.1 ± 0.9 and 2.66 ± 0.16 mg g-1, respectively. An enantiomer excess value of 100% was achieved after adsorption of racemic Trp by the material. The work suggests that SiO2@MPS@MIP are a promising material for enantioseparation of Trp racemate in aqueous media. Graphical abstract.

Synthesis of molecularly imprinted polymer modified magnetic particles for chiral separation of tryptophan enantiomers in aqueous medium.

Molecularly imprinted polymers coated magnetic particles (Fe3O4@MIPs) were prepared and used as adsorbents in solid phase extraction for efficient enantioseparation of racemic tryptophan (Trp) in aqueous medium. The amino-modified magnetic particles (Fe3O4-NH2) were first synthesized by one-pot hydrothermal method. Then the template molecules (L-Trp) were assembled on the surface of Fe3O4-NH2. Finally, Fe3O4@MIPs were prepared via a sol-gel method using L-Trp@Fe3O4-NH2 complex as matrix, 3-aminopropyltriethoxylsilane and n-octyltriethoxysilane as functional monomers. The as-prepared Fe3O4@MIPs were spherical with an average diameter about 149 ± 6.0 nm. The thickness of MIPs layer was approximately 3.5 ± 2.3 nm. The adsorption isotherms data of Fe3O4@MIPs toward L-Trp and D-Trp were well described by the Langmuir model. The maximum adsorption capacities of Fe3O4@MIPs for L-Trp and D-Trp were calculated to be 17.2 ± 0.34 mg/g and 7.2 ± 0.19 mg/g, respectively. The material exhibited good selectivity toward L-Trp with imprinting factor of 5.6. Excitingly, the enantiomeric excess (ee) of Trp in supernatant after adsorption of racemic Trp by Fe3O4@MIPs was as high as 100%. The result suggests that the imprinted caves in Fe3O4@MIPs are highly matched with L-Trp molecule in space structure and spatial arrangement of active functional groups. The work also demonstrates that sol-gel technology has great potential in preparation of MIPs for chiral separation.

[Research progress of molecularly imprinted polymers in separation of chiral drugs by capillary electrochromatography].

Chiral drugs exert pharmacological effects through strict matching with chiral biological macromolecules and chiral recognition. Each enantiomer has different pharmacological activities, metabolic processes and rates, as well as toxicity pharmacokinetic characteristics owing to the difference in its interactions with the chiral environment. Therefore, method development for the resolution of chiral drugs is of great significance for the synthesis of chiral drugs and for quality control during the production process. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are prepared by using a target molecule as the template. MIPs demonstrate highly specific recognition properties toward the target molecule since they have specific spatial molecular structures and functional groups. Hence, MIPs are particularly suitable for the separation and purification of chiral drugs. Capillary electrochromatography (CEC) offers the advantages of high separation efficiency and high selectivity owing to the dual separation mechanisms including capillary electrophoresis and liquid chromatography. By using MIPs as the stationary phases for CEC, the advantages of the two technologies can be combined to achieve efficient separation of chiral drugs. MIPs were first applied to CEC for chiral resolution in 1994, and since then, there have been notable advances in this field. The four main chiral separation modes in CEC involve the use of MIPs as the stationary phases of open tubular, packed, and monolithic columns, and as the pseudostationary phase in the separation medium. This review summarizes the research progress of these four methods and reveals the potential of MIPs in chiral resolution by CEC. The advantages and disadvantages of these methods are commented. MIPs as the stationary phases of packed columns can allow for chiral separation. However, the preparation of packed columns in narrow capillaries is difficult. In addition, frits must be prepared at the ends of the capillaries to seal the MIPs. The frits lead to the formation of bubbles during the CEC analysis, thus resulting in poor repeatability and stability. These problems can be overcome by using MIP-based open tubular columns. Furthermore, conditioning of open tubular columns is easy and less time-consuming. However, open tubular columns have limited capacity. MIP-based monolithic columns have greater capacity than do open tubular columns, and frits are not required in this case. However, in situ preparation of MIPs monolith in narrow capillaries is still challenging. The application of MIPs to chiral CEC can also be realized by using them as pseudostationary phases (additives) in the separation medium, and this allows for ease of operation. Moreover, the amount of MIPs introduced into the capillary can be accurately controlled. Thus, the batch-to-batch reproducibility can be improved, but this has the disadvantage of increased MIP consumption. In order to further expand the potential of MIPs in chiral CEC, the following aspects must be considered. First, improvement of the preparation method. In most reported MIP-based-chiral CEC techniques, the peaks of the imprinted molecules show severe tailing, and this problem must be resolved. Improving the mass transfer rate of the prepared MIPs may be a suitable solution in this regard. Second, development of new functional monomers. A functional monomer is an indispensable component in the preparation of MIPs. New functional monomers can be prepared according to the "three-point interaction" rule. Third, selection of template molecules. A single enantiomer of chiral drugs is used as the template molecule to prepare chiral MIPs. The method is not suitable for the preparation of MIPs of chiral drugs for which a single enantiomer is difficult to obtain. Therefore, appropriate choice of the template molecules for these drugs is imperative. Fourth, discussion of chiral separation mechanism. The mechanism of interaction between the template molecules and MIPs needs to be explored further, in order to obtain theoretical guidance for the design and preparation of chiral MIPs.

Preparation of chitosan-based molecularly imprinted material for enantioseparation of racemic mandelic acid in aqueous medium by solid phase extraction.

An S-mandelic acid imprinted chitosan resin was synthesized by cross-linking chitosan with glutaraldehyde in 2% acetic acid solution. S-Mandelic acid imprinted chitosan resin was used to enantioselectively separate racemic mandelic acid in aqueous medium. When keeping the pH of sample solution (100 mM Tris-H3 PO4 ) at 3.5 and adsorption time at 40 min, the enantiomer excess of mandelic acid in supernatant was 78.8%. The adsorption capacities of S-mandelic acid imprinted chitosan resin for S- and R-mandelic acid were determined to be 29.5 and 2.03 mg/g, respectively. While the adsorption capacities of non-imprinted cross-linked chitosan for S- and R-mandelic acid were 2.10 and 2.08 mg/g, respectively. The result suggests that the imprinted caves in S-mandelic acid imprinted chitosan resin are highly matched with S-mandelic acid molecule in space structure and spatial arrangement of action sites. Interestingly, the enantiomer excess value of mandelic acid in supernatant after adsorption of racemic mandelic acid by R-mandelic acid imprinted cross-linked chitosan was 25.4%. The higher enantiomer excess value by S-mandelic acid imprinted chitosan resin suggests that the chiral carbons in chitosan and the imprinted caves in S-mandelic acid imprinted chitosan resin combine to play roles for the enantioselectivity of S-mandelic acid imprinted chitosan resin toward S-mandelic acid. Furthermore, the excellent enantioselectivity of S-mandelic acid imprinted chitosan resin toward S-mandelic acid demonstrates that using chiral chitosan as functional monomer to prepare molecularly imprinted polymers has great potential in enantioseparation of chiral pharmaceuticals.

Solid phase extraction and capillary electrophoretic separation of racemic catecholamines by using magnetic particles coated with a copolymer prepared from poly(3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine) and polyethyleneimine.

A method is presented for chiral separation of catecholamines present in bovine and mice blood. It combines magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) and chiral capillary electrophoresis (ch-CE). A copolymer consisting of poly(3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine) and polyethyleneimine was coated onto magnetic particles (MPs) by co-deposition using the CuSO4/H2O2 system as a polymerization initiator. The coated MPs are spherical and the average diameter is about 168 ± 4 nm. The thickness of the coating is approximately 19 nm. The functional MPs are used as sorbents in MSPE to simultaneously extract the catecholamines epinephrine, norepinephrine and isoprenaline. Under the optimum conditions, the extraction efficiencies for those catecholamines are in the range from 92.3 to 98.3%, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of <5.3%. The extraction can be performed within 4 min. The extracts were then submitted to ch-CE. A method for field-enhanced sample injection (FESI) was used to enhance the detection sensitivities of the enantiomers. The limits of detection for catecholamine enantiomers range from 400 to 600 pg mL-1. In comparison with the FESI-ch-CE method, the sensitivity enhancement factors of the MSPE/ch-CE method for catecholamines are about 10-fold. The method was applied to the determination of trace levels of catecholamine enantiomers in (spiked) bovine and mice blood. The recoveries ranged from 88.2 to 93.8%, with RSDs of <5.5%. The whole detection procedure takes less than 30 min. Graphical abstract Schematic representation of the separation and detection of catecholamine enantiomers in blood by combination of polyDOPA/PEI-magnetic particles-based solid phase extraction and chiral-capillary electrophoresis.

Analysis of amino acids in blood by combining zeolitic imidazolate framework-8-based solid phase extraction and capillary electrophoresis.

Detection of amino acids (AAs) in blood is helpful to diagnose some diseases. In this work, a method is developed for determination of trace amounts of AAs in bovine blood by combining solid phase extraction (SPE) and capillary electrophoresis (CE). Zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) nanoparticles are prepared and used as adsorbents to simultaneously extract three AAs (tryptophan, tyrosine, phenylalanine). Under the optimum extraction conditions, the extraction efficiencies of ZIF-8 for AAs are 95.1% (tryptophan), 91.1% (tyrosine), and 90.1% (phenylalanine), respectively. Interestingly, ZIF-8 demonstrates good extraction ability for AAs in high concentration of acetonitrile (ACN) aqueous solutions. Thus, they can be directly used to extract AAs from the deproteinized blood sample using ACN. An α-cyclodextrin-mediated cation selective exhaustive injection-sweeping CE method is developed for analysis of the extracted AAs. The detection limits for AAs range from 0.13 to 0.37 µg mL-1 using the SPE/CE method. Standard addition method is used to evaluate the feasibility of the method in bovine blood samples. The standard addition curves demonstrate good linearity with determination coefficient > 0.9912.

Enantioseparation of chiral ß-blockers using polynorepinephrine-coated nanoparticles and chiral capillary electrophoresis.

A method of combining magnetic solid-phase separation (MSPE) and chiral capillary electrophoresis (CE) is developed for enantioseparation of trace amounts of ß-blockers. Polynorepinephrine-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (polyNE-MNPs) are synthesized and applied to simultaneously extract three ß-blockers (carteolol, metoprolol, and betaxolol). The prepared polyNE-MNPs are spherical with a diameter of 198 ± 17 nm and the thickness of the polyNE coating is about 14 nm. PolyNE possesses abundant catechol hydroxyl and secondary amine groups, endowing the MNPs with excellent hydrophilicity. Under the optimum conditions, the extraction efficiencies of polyNE-MNPs for ß-blockers are in the range of 89.6 to 100%, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) below 3.5%. The extraction process can be finished in 4 min. Field-enhanced sample injection (FESI) in chiral CE is constructed to further enhance the sensitivities of ß-blocker enantiomers. The limits of detection for ß-blocker enantiomers by the FESI-CE with polyNE-MNPs are in the range of 0.401 to 1.59 ng mL-1. The practicability of this method in real samples is evaluated by analysis of human urine samples. The recoveries for each enantiomer of ß-blockers in the real samples range from 89.5 to 92.8%, with RSDs ranging from 0.37 to 5.9%. The whole detection process can be finished in less than 0.5 h. The method demonstrates its great potential in the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies of chiral drugs in humans. Graphical abstract ᅟ.

Enantioseparation and sensitive analysis of ofloxacin by poly(3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine) functionalized magnetic nanoparticles-based solid phase extraction in combination with on-line concentration capillary electrophoresis.

Chiral separation of low concentrations of pharmaceuticals in biofluids is a challenge task. In this study, a method is developed to enantioseparate trace amount of racemic ofloxacin in urine and bovine blood by combining magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) and chiral capillary electrophoresis (CE). Poly(3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine) modified magnetic nanoparticles (polyDOPA-MNPs) are prepared and used as the adsorbents in MSPE to extract ofloxacin. The polyDOPA-MNPs are spherical, about 130 nm in diameter and the polyDOPA shell is about 3 nm. The extraction process of polyDOPA-MNPs for ofloxacin includes 2 min adsorption and 2 min desorption with the assistance of sonication. Under the optimized MSPE conditions (3 mg polyDOPA-MNPs as adsorbents, sample pH 7.0, 75% (v/v) AcOH in methanol as eluent, adsorption time 2 min, desorption time 2 min), the extraction efficiency of ofloxacin is 95%. In chiral CE, pressure-assisted field-enhanced sample injection (PA-FESI) is developed to improve the detection sensitivity of ofloxacin enantiomers. The MSPE/PA-FESI chiral CE method demonstrates a good linearity in the concentration range of 0.01-0.06 µg/mL, with a detection limit as low as 0.29 ng/mL. The feasibility of the method is verified by the successful determination of trace amounts of ofloxacin enantiomers in spiked urine and bovine blood samples.