Abstract: To investigate the extent and nature of the monomer-template association of molecularly imprinted polymer prepolymerisation mixtures, a series of (-)-nicotine molecularly imprinted acrylic polymers was prepared using a range of monomer-template molar ratios. Load capacity studies performed in the chromatographic mode showed an unexpected increase in retention at higher nicotine sample loads. Further analyses of this effect indicate that solvation effects, and potentially the presence of higher order template complexes, may explain this behaviour. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of the current model for molecular imprinting, and it is suggested that the possibility of template self-association should be included in this model. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
Template and target information: nicotine
Author keywords: Molecularly imprinted polymers, monomer-template ratio, sample load, retention behaviour, selectivity, stationary phases, LC, nicotine