Development of a broad selective molecularly imprinted polymers-based solid phase extraction of contraceptive drug levonorgestrel from water samples

Abstract

A broad selective molecularly imprinted polymers-based solid phase extraction (MISPE) for levonorgestrel (LNG) from water samples was developed. Using LNG as a template molecule, acrylamide (AA) as functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as linking agent and bulk polymerisation as a synthetic method, the molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) were synthesised and characterised. The MIPs displayed a high specific rebinding for LNG with the imprinting factor of 3.71. The Scatchard analysis showed that there was at least one class of binding site for LNG formed in the MIPs with the dissociation constant of 8.046 µg mL−1. The results of selectivity testing indicated that the MIPs also exhibited high cross-reactivity with structurally related compounds (estrone, methylprednisolone and ethinyl estradiol), but no recognition with non-structurally related compound (indomethacin), suggesting that the MIPs could be used as a broad recognition absorbent. MISPE column was prepared by packing MIPs particles into a common SPE cartridge. The MISPE extraction conditions including loading, washing and eluting solutions were carefully optimised. Water samples spiked with LNG were extracted by MISPE column and detected by high-performance liquid chromatography. The recoveries were found to be 79.97 ∼ 132.79% with relative standard deviations (RSD) of 1.92 ∼ 10.43%, indicating the feasibility of the prepared MIPs for LNG extraction.