Abstract: This work reports the preparation of a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for selective catalytic detection of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT). The process is based on the synthesis of polymers with hemin introduced as the catalytic center to mimic the active site of peroxidase. The copolymer MIP, containing artificial recognition sites for 5-HT, has been prepared by bulk polymerization using methacrylic acid (MAA) and hemin as the functional monomers, and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as the cross-linker. For the determination of 5-HT, a flow injection analysis system coupled to an amperometric detector was optimized using multivariate analysis. The effects of different parameters, such as pH, buffer flow rate, buffer nature, peroxide concentration and sample volume were evaluated. After optimizing the experimental conditions, a linear response range from 1.0 up to 1000.0áμmoláL-1 was obtained with a sensitivity of 0.4ánA/μmoláL-1. The detection limit was found to be 0.30áμmoláL-1, while the precision values (ná=á6) evaluated by relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) were, respectively, 1.3 and 1.7% for solutions of 50 and 750áμmoláL-1 of 5-HT. No interference was observed by structurally similar compounds (including epinephrine, dopamine and norepinephrine), thus validating the good performance of the imprinted polymer. The method was applied for the determination of 5-HT in spiked blood serum samples
Template and target information: serotonin, 5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT
Author keywords: Serotonin, hemin, Molecularly imprinted polymers, amperometric detection

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