Synthesis and Characterization of Molecularly Imprinted Polymers for Quercetin

Abstract

Quercetin is a flavonoid present in herbs, fruits and vegetables. It acts as an antioxidant, anticancer and anti-inflammatory agent. Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) were prepared for quercetin by non-covalent approach in the presence of monomer acrylamide, EGDMA as the crosslinker, AIBN as the initiator and methanol and ethyl acetate as porogenic solvents. Most stable MIPs were synthesized using methanol as the solvent. Step wise removal of the template with methanol and acetic acid (9:1) left binding sites that retain complementary specificity and affinity. These stable MIPs were analysed by FT-IR technique. It was observed that there was hydrogen bonding between the template and the functional monomer. This study was further supported by NMR analysis for MIPs and NMIPs (control polymer) that cavity for quercetin has been created in MIPs and absent in the case of NMIPs. MIPs were characterized by SEM analysis that showed more clusters in case of MIPs than NMIPs as an effect of imprinting. These MIPs can be used for extraction of quercetin from herbs in a one step process.