Abstract: Herein, we present a technique for the coating of microplate wells with thin layers of cross-linked polymers, as demonstrated by the preparation of a small library of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) imprinted with atrazine and the corresponding control polymers (NIPs). The composition of MIPs was based on the results of a computational screening using the SYBYL suite of molecular modeling software. The monomers giving the most favorable interaction energies in a virtual monomers screening were N,N'-methylene-bis-acrylamide, methacrylic acid, N-phenylethylene diamine methacrylamide (NPEDMA), and itaconic acid. The polymer library was prepared by surface grafting to a layer of poly-(NPEDMA), formed by oxidative polymerization in each of the microplate wells, after activation of the methacrylamide double bonds with a photochemical iniferter (benzyl N,N-diethyldithiocarbamate). MIPs and NIPs were prepared with each of the four functional monomers, cross-linked with ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, using template-monomer ratios of 1:1, 1:2, or 1:3. Binding of the template and its structural analogs (simizine and metribuzine) was assessed by LC-MS. The method is shown to be suitable for rapid screening and optimization of MIPs, is capable of automation, and uses a simple grafting protocol compatible with conventional MIP compositions. The method not only can be used as a screening tool but could also form the basis of new MIP-based assays
Template and target information: atrazine