Molecularly imprinted polymers: present and future prospective.

Maria Rosaria Lazzoi,Giuseppe Vasapollo,Sonia Scorrano,Anna Scardino,Roberta Del Sole,Giuseppe Mele,Lucia Mergola

doi:10.3390/ijms12095908

Maria Rosaria Lazzoi, Giuseppe Vasapollo + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms12095908

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Abstract

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.

Highlights

IntroductionMolecular Imprinting Technology (MIT) is today a viable synthetic approach to design robust molecular recognition materials able to mimic natural recognition entities, such as antibodies and biological receptors [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9].The design of synthetic materials, which are able to mimic the recognition processes found in nature, has become an important and active area of research making in recent years molecular imprinting one of the strategies followed to create materials with recognition ability comparable to the natural systems.MIT is considered a versatile and promising technique which is able to recognize both biological and chemical molecules including amino acids and proteins [10,11,12], nucleotide derivatives [13], pollutants [14,15], drugs and food [16,17]
The scope of this review is to provide a general overview on Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) field, some significant aspects about preparation and application of the molecular imprinting polymers with examples taken from the recent literature will be outlined
Design of a new MIP system suitable for a specific template molecule often requires a lot of time and work for synthesis, washing and testing

Summary

Introduction

Molecular Imprinting Technology (MIT) is today a viable synthetic approach to design robust molecular recognition materials able to mimic natural recognition entities, such as antibodies and biological receptors [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9].The design of synthetic materials, which are able to mimic the recognition processes found in nature, has become an important and active area of research making in recent years molecular imprinting one of the strategies followed to create materials with recognition ability comparable to the natural systems.MIT is considered a versatile and promising technique which is able to recognize both biological and chemical molecules including amino acids and proteins [10,11,12], nucleotide derivatives [13], pollutants [14,15], drugs and food [16,17]. Molecular Imprinting Technology (MIT) is today a viable synthetic approach to design robust molecular recognition materials able to mimic natural recognition entities, such as antibodies and biological receptors [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. The design of synthetic materials, which are able to mimic the recognition processes found in nature, has become an important and active area of research making in recent years molecular imprinting one of the strategies followed to create materials with recognition ability comparable to the natural systems. MIT is considered a versatile and promising technique which is able to recognize both biological and chemical molecules including amino acids and proteins [10,11,12], nucleotide derivatives [13], pollutants [14,15], drugs and food [16,17]. The resultant polymer recognizes and binds selectively only the template molecules

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