Acid- and anion-targeted fluorescent molecularly imprinted polymers: Recent advances, challenges and perspectives

Abstract

Acids and anions are important natural components that distribute in plants, animals and products from biotechnological processes. They are usually non-toxic, however, with an increase or decrease in their concentration due to pollution, overuse, chemical reaction etc., acids and anions show harmful effects. Therefore, the detection of acids and anions with high sensitivity and selectivity is necessary. Molecularly imprinting, a technique creating template-tailored cavities in polymer matrices through covalent or non-covalent bonds, has been adapted for the detection of acids, anions and their derivatives. Particularly, fluorescent molecularly imprinted polymers (fMIPs) appear as one of the most promising candidates for chemical sensing due to the high sensitivity and ease of operation of fluorescence. This review summarizes the types of fMIPs, gives an overview of acid and anion templates and features of fMIPs, highlights studies of interest with an emphasis on fluorescent monomers (FMs) used in the synthesis, and finally discusses the challenges and future perspectives.