Development and application of molecularly imprinted polymers as solid-phase sorbents for erythromycin extraction

Area of Science:

• Polymer Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Materials Science

Background:

• Erythromycin (ERY) is an antibiotic requiring sensitive detection methods.
• Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) offer tailored recognition capabilities for specific analytes.
• Developing selective sorbents for solid-phase extraction (SPE) is crucial for sample cleanup.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and characterize novel molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for erythromycin (ERY).
• To evaluate the binding properties and porous structure of the developed MIPs.
• To assess the performance of MIPs as selective sorbents for ERY extraction in complex matrices.

Main Methods:

• Noncovalent bulk polymerization using methacrylic acid (MAA) as the functional monomer.
• Binding analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis for material characterization.
• Solid-phase extraction (SPE) experiments to evaluate ERY binding and selectivity.

Main Results:

• MIPs with an optimal template-to-monomer ratio exhibited convergent porous structures.
• Binding sites on MIPs demonstrated heterogeneity with two distinct dissociation constants.
• MIPs showed selective recognition of ERY with moderate cross-reactivity for other macrolides.

Conclusions:

• The synthesized MIPs possess favorable structural and binding characteristics for ERY recognition.
• MIPs are effective as selective SPE sorbents for the cleanup and enrichment of ERY.
• The developed MIPs demonstrate feasibility for ERY extraction in real samples, including pig muscle and tap water.