Abstract: A molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) is a biomimetic material that can be used as a biochemical sensing element. We studied the steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence and fluorescence anisotropy of anthracene-imprinted polyurethane. We compared MIPs with imprinted analytes present, MIPs with the imprinted analytes extracted, MIPs with rebound analytes, non-imprinted control polymers (non-MIPs) and non-MIPs bound with analytes to understand MIP's binding behaviour. MIPs and non-MIPs had similar steady-state fluorescence anisotropy in the range 0.11-0.24. Anthracene rebound in MIPs and non-MIPs had a fluorescence lifetime of [tau] = 0.64 ns and a rotational correlation time of [phi]F = 1.2 - 1.5 ns, both of which were shorter than that of MIPs with imprinted analytes present ([tau] = 2.03 ns and [phi]F = 2.7 ns). The steady-state anisotropy of polymer solutions increased exponentially with polymerization time and might be used to characterize the polymerization extent in situ. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Template and target information: anthracene
Author keywords: steady-state anisotropy, time-resolved anisotropy, time-resolved fluorescence, polymerization kinetics, anthracene sensing

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