Molecular Imprinting Technology (MIT) is a technique to design artificial receptors with a predetermined selectivity and specificity for a given analyte, which can be used as ideal materials in various application fields. Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs), the polymeric matrices obtained using the imprinting technology, are robust molecular recognition elements able to mimic natural recognition entities, such as antibodies and biological receptors, useful to separate and analyze complicated samples such as biological fluids and environmental samples. The scope of this review is to provide a general overview on MIPs field discussing first general aspects in MIP preparation and then dealing with various application aspects. This review aims to outline the molecularly imprinted process and present a summary of principal application fields of molecularly imprinted polymers, focusing on chemical sensing, separation science, drug delivery and catalysis. Some significant aspects about preparation and application of the molecular imprinting polymers with examples taken from the recent literature will be discussed. Theoretical and experimental parameters for MIPs design in terms of the interaction between template and polymer functionalities will be considered and synthesis methods for the improvement of MIP recognition properties will also be presented.

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Molecularly Imprinted Polymers: Present and Future Prospective

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by certain filamentous fungi (molds). These low molecular weight compounds (usually less than 1000 Daltons) are naturally occurring and practically unavoidable. They can enter our food chain either directly from plant-based food components contaminated with mycotoxins or by indirect contamination from the growth of toxigenic fungi on food. Mycotoxins can accumulate in maturing corn, cereals, soybeans, sorghum, peanuts, and other food and feed crops in the field and in grain during transportation. Consumption of mycotoxin-contaminated food or feed can cause acute or chronic toxicity in human and animals. In addition to concerns over adverse effects from direct consumption of mycotoxin-contaminated foods and feeds, there is also public health concern over the potential ingestion of animal-derived food products, such as meat, milk, or eggs, containing residues or metabolites of mycotoxins. Members of three fungal genera, Aspergillus, Fusarium, and Penicillium, are the major mycotoxin producers. While over 300 mycotoxins have been identified, six (aflatoxins, trichothecenes, zearalenone, fumonisins, ochratoxins, and patulin) are regularly found in food, posing unpredictable and ongoing food safety problems worldwide. This review summarizes the toxicity of the six mycotoxins, foods commonly contaminated by one or more of them, and the current methods for detection and analysis of these mycotoxins.

Occurrence, Toxicity, and Analysis of Major Mycotoxins in Food

Based on the recently published literature, this review provides an update of the most important features and application of formats and devices employed in solid phase extraction (SPE). Special attention was paid on new trapping media proposed in SPE prior the chromatography analysis, based on the use of nanostructured materials, including carbon nanomaterials, electrospun nanofibers, dendrimes and magnetic nanoparticles, molecular recognition sorbents, as aptamers, immunosorbents, molecular imprinted polymers, ion imprinting polymers, metal-organic frameworks and restricted access materials. Discussions on the present limitations as well as expected future trends of the new trapping media in sample preparation for the improvement of the analytical determinations were made. Moreover, application of SPE for the extraction of different kind of materials; such as biological, environmental, pharmaceutical and food samples was summarized.

Modern trends in solid phase extraction: New sorbent media

Nanomaterials for Sensing and Destroying Pesticides

Molecular imprinted polymer is an artificial receptor made by imprinting molecules of a template in a polymer matrix followed by removing the template molecules via thorough washing to give the permanent template grooves. They show favored affinity to the template molecule compared to other molecules, and this property is the basic driving force for such diverse application of this techniques. Such techniques have been increasingly employed in a wide scope of applications such as chromatography, sample pretreatment, purification, catalysts, sensors, and drug delivery, etc., mostly in bioanalytical areas. A major part of them is related to development of new stationary phases and their application in chromatography and sample pretreatment. Embodiments of molecular imprinted polymer materials have been carried out in a variety of forms such as irregularly ground particles, regular spherical particles, nanoparticles, monoliths in a stainless steel or capillary column, open tubular layers in capillaries, surface attached thin layers, membranes, and composites, etc. There have been numerous review articles on molecular imprinted polymer issues. In this special review, the reviews in recent ca. 10 years will be categorized into several subgroups according to specified topics in separation science, and each review in each subgroup will be introduced in the order of date with brief summaries and comments on new developments and different scopes of prospects. Brief summaries of each categories and conclusive future perspectives are also given.

Molecular imprinted polymers for separation science: a review of reviews.

Fmoc-3-nitrotyrosine (Fmoc-3-NT) molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) were synthesized to understand the influence of several functional monomers on the efficiency of the molecular imprinting process. Acidic, neutral and basic functional monomers, such as acrylic acid (AA), methacrylic acid (MAA), methacrylamide (MAM), 2-vinylpyridine (2-VP), 4-vinylpyridine (4-VP), have been used to synthesize five different polymers. In this study, the MIPs were tested in batch experiments by UV-visible spectroscopy in order to evaluate their binding properties. The MIP prepared with 2-VP exhibited the highest binding affinity for Fmoc-3NT, for which Scatchard analysis the highest association constant (2.49 × 104 M−1) was obtained. Furthermore, titration experiments of Fmoc-3NT into acetonitrile solutions of 2-VP revealed a stronger bond to the template, such that a total interaction is observed. Non-imprinted polymers as control were prepared and showed no binding affinities for Fmoc-3NT. The results are indicative of the importance of ionic bonds formed between the –OH residues of the template molecule and the pyridinyl groups of the polymer matrix. In conclusion, 2-VP assists to create a cavity which allows better access to the analytes.

Synthesis of Molecularly Imprinted Polymers for Amino Acid Derivates by Using Different Functional Monomers

Molecularly imprinted polymers for solid-phase extraction of 1-methyladenosine from human urine

Developments in the synthesis of a water compatible molecularly imprinted polymer as artificial receptor for detection of 3-nitro-L-tyrosine in neurological diseases.

Hg(II)-imprinted polymers were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The spectrum of IIP2, prepared using diphenylcarbazone, showed two additional peaks attributed to the stretching of nitrogen bonded to the aromatic carbon of diphenylcarbazone, not found in IIP1. Comparing leached and unleached IIP2, the peak shape of C=N (1636.3 cm−1) in unleached IIP2 was drastically changed emphasizing the interaction of mercury with nitrogen on 4VP. Moreover, a slight shift of the additional peaks was observed. These results show the possible interaction of mercury ions both with the nitrogen bonded to the aromatic carbon of diphenylcarbazone and the nitrogen of the monomer.

Sonia Scorrano

Papers

Molecularly Imprinted Polymers: Present and Future Prospective

Synthesis of Molecularly Imprinted Polymers for Amino Acid Derivates by Using Different Functional Monomers

Molecularly imprinted polymers for solid-phase extraction of 1-methyladenosine from human urine

Developments in the synthesis of a water compatible molecularly imprinted polymer as artificial receptor for detection of 3-nitro-L-tyrosine in neurological diseases.

Novel polymeric sorbents based on imprinted Hg(II)-diphenylcarbazone complexes for mercury removal from drinking water