Determination of Cephalosporins by UHPLC-DAD Using Molecularly Imprinted Polymers

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) were synthesized for the determination of cephalosporins (cephazolin, ceftazidime, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, cefepime and cephalexin) by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection (UHPLC-DAD). After optimization, MIPs were synthesized using cephazolin as the template, methacrylic acid as the functional monomer, triethylenglycol dimethacrylate as the crosslinker, acetonitrile/dimethylsulfoxide as porogens and benzoyl peroxide as the radical initiator. Not only this is a novel route of MIP synthesis for cephalosporins, but also this choice of analytes is unique. Chromatographic separation was performed in a C8 column using a binary gradient with trifluoroacetic acid 0.1% in water and acetonitrile. Linearity was assessed up to 100 μg mL-1 and linear correlation coefficients (r) were all higher than 0.99, limits of detection were within the range of 3-12 ng mL-1, and recoveries from 86 to 102% were obtained for concentrations between 0.05 and 1.0 μg mL-1.