Molecular imprinted ormosils for nafcillin recognition by room temperature phosphorescence optosensing

Nafcillin imprinted sol-gels were used as specific binding materials for the room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) recognition of nafcillin using a flow injection system. Selective and reversible binding of the template to imprinted sol-gels could be observed by tailoring the hydrophobic/hydrophilic balance of the materials. Also, the possibility of minimizing non-specific interactions was evaluated by end-capping with trimethyl silyl groups. Control experiments were performed with non imprinted reference sol-gels. The recognition mechanism and the analytical potential of these materials for developing stable, selective and sensitive approaches for nafcillin recognition in real samples are outlined.