Abstract: In order to achieve effective imprinting in aqueous media, a cholic acid imprinted polymer (MIP1) was prepared by the combined use of bismethacryloyl-β-cyclodextrin (BMA-β-CD) and 2-(diethylamino) ethylmethacrylate (DEAEM) as functional monomers. The recognition ability of MIP1 for the template in aqueous media was evaluated by equilibrium binding experiments. The results indicated that the imprinted polymer MIP1 obviously exhibited a higher selectivity for cholic acid than the cholic acid imprinted polymers (MIP2 and MIP3) using only BMA-β-CD or DEAEM as a functional monomer. The specific binding capacity (Δ CP) and imprinting factor (IF) of MIP1 were 38.81 μmol/g and 2.46, respectively. It demonstrated that the combination of hydrophobic effect and electrostatic interaction in molecular imprinting was essential for the improvement of the selective ability of the imprinted polymer in aqueous media. In addition, hydrophobic effect was confirmed to be the important force for driving the template molecules into the cavities created by the imprinting process.
Template and target information: cholic acid
Author keywords: molecular imprinting, cholic acid, β-cyclodextrin, binding specificity, hydrophobic effect