Abstract: Molecularly imprinted polymers containing a photosensitizer, rose bengal (RB), were synthesized via a polymerization of methacrylic acid (MAA) as a functional monomer and chlorophenols as template molecules. The polymeric sensitizers promote selective oxidation of target chlorophenol in water with molecular oxygen under visible light irradiation ( > 530 nm). This is due to the selective attraction of the target substrate onto the molecular recognition site on the polymer followed by efficient oxidation of the substrate by a singlet oxygen produced by the photoexcited RB units located in the vicinity of the recognition site.
Template and target information: chlorophenols, o-chlorophenol, 2-chlorophenol, m-chlorophenol, 3-chlorophenol, p-chlorophenol, 4-chlorophenol