Abstract: L-Aromatic amino acid imprinted polymers were prepared using azobisnitriles as either photoinitiators or thermal initiators at temperature ranging from 4 to 60 degrees C. Methacrylic acid (MAA) was used as functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EDMA) was used as cross-linker, The result polymers were ground and sieved to particles less than or equal to 10 mu m, filled into the capillary columns and used for enantiomeric separations in capillary electrochromatographic (CEC) mode. The polymer particles less than or equal to 25 were packed into high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) columns and used for enantioseparations in the HPLC mode, The mobility and chiral separation of some amino acids were studied on CEC and HPLC columns st different temperature, The relationships of separation factor and column temperatures are demonstrated in linear between logarithm of the separation factor (1n alpha) and the inverse of absolute temperature (1/T), Some thermodynamic parameters, such as the apparent change of enthalpy (Delta H degrees) and the apparent change of entropy (Delta S-degrees), were obtained using van't Hoff plots, The information obtained from the thermodynamic study is discussed in developing strategies for chiral recognitions of amino acids by molecular imprinting technique. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd