Hypercrosslinked polymeric restricted access materials for analysis of biological fluids.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Analytical Chemistry
• Biochemistry

Background:

• Restricted access materials (RAMs) are crucial for isolating analytes from complex biological matrices like blood plasma.
• Existing RAMs often face challenges with protein adsorption and subsequent coagulation, necessitating chemical modifications.
• There is a need for robust, unmodified materials capable of selective analyte extraction from biological fluids.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop novel microporous hypercrosslinked polystyrene materials for solid-phase extraction (SPE) of low-molecular-weight analytes.
• To evaluate the protein exclusion and analyte adsorption capabilities of these new materials.
• To demonstrate their utility in simplifying the sample preparation of biological fluids.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of microporous hypercrosslinked polystyrene beads via cross-linking styrene copolymers with divinylbenzene and monochlorodimethyl ether.
• Characterization of sorbent properties, including pore structure and cross-linking degree (100-200%).
• Assessment of protein exclusion (albumin, cytochrome C) and adsorption of model organic compounds (drugs, vitamins, phenyl carboxylic acids).

Main Results:

• Developed hypercrosslinked polystyrene beads (60-70 μm) with varying cross-linking degrees.
• Materials demonstrated effective exclusion of major blood proteins (albumin) and smaller proteins (cytochrome C).
• Sorbents showed broad affinity for diverse polar and nonpolar organic compounds from aqueous solutions.

Conclusions:

• The novel hypercrosslinked polystyrene represents a new class of RAMs for SPE.
• These materials effectively prevent protein adsorption and coagulation, eliminating the need for chemical modification.
• The developed sorbents are promising for the selective isolation of low-molecular-weight analytes from biological fluids.