Recognition performance of o-phthalic acid-Cu(Ac)2 molecular imprinting polymers

Molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was synthesized by using the complex of o-phthalic acid-Cu(Ac)2 as the template. The experimental results show that Cu(Ac)2-o-PA imprinted polymer [P(PA/Cu)] has selective binding to its template complex, including selectivities to the anions, cations and o-PA analogues of the complex. The possible structure of the complex Cu(Ac)2-o-PA is also proposed according to the crystal structures of similar systems. According to the results, the acetate in Cu(Ac)2 also participated the imprinting process and is a part of the template. Therefore, it plays an important role in the recognition of template and its analogue complexes. Additionally, the high retention of o-PA-imprinted polymer[P(PA)] toward Cu(Ac)2-o-PA and similar Cu-complexes over o-PA itself is well explained by the binding similarity between 4-VP/o-PA and 4-VP/Cu(Ac)2-o-PA. The metal ion-mediated imprinting approach of present study may find applications for the compound which can not be directly imprinted.EI081566-15692