8 - Molecularly imprinted polymers

Abstract

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are synthetic polymers with a predetermined selectivity for a given analyte, or group of structurally related compounds, making them ideal materials to be used in separation processes. In this sense, during the past years, a large number of papers have been published dealing with the use of MIPs as sorbents in solid-phase extraction (SPE), namely, molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MISPE). Although the majority of these papers were restricted to describing the use of different templates for different applications, several attempts proposing new alternatives to minimize the inherent drawbacks of the preparation and use of MIPs (i.e., template bleeding, tedious synthesis procedure, etc.) have been reported. Thus, this paper not only intends to provide the basic concepts on the synthesis and use of MIPs in solid-phase extraction (SPE) but also give an overview on the significant attempts carried out during recent years to improve the performance of MIPs in SPE.