Improved Enantioselectivity for Atenolol Employing Pivot Based Molecular Imprinting

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Materials Science
• Organic Chemistry

Background:

• Molecular imprinting technology has advanced significantly, creating selective biomimetic recognition platforms.
• Challenges remain in imprinting highly polar chiral compounds.
• Metal-mediated imprinting offers a promising approach to overcome these limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the kosmotropic effect in a ternary complex for imprinting polar chiral compounds.
• To enhance chiral molecular recognition using metal-mediated imprinting.
• To optimize imprinting conditions for improved enantioselectivity.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of polymers using non-covalent and metal-mediated molecular imprinting.
• Systematic assessment of chiral molecular recognition on HPLC columns.
• Investigation of experimental variables including functional monomers, cross-linkers, metal ions, and porogenic systems.
• Thermodynamic studies to elucidate the molecular recognition mechanism.

Main Results:

• Metal-mediated imprinting significantly improved chiral recognition compared to non-covalent methods.
• The optimal polymer utilized 4-vinyl pyridine as a functional monomer and Co(II) for imprinting S-atenolol.
• The best enantioselectivity (α = 1.60) was achieved with specific cross-linkers and porogenic systems.
• Thermodynamic analysis provided insights into the imprinting and rebinding processes.

Conclusions:

• Metal-mediated molecular imprinting is effective for creating selective platforms for polar chiral compounds.
• The study demonstrates a successful strategy for enhancing enantioselectivity in molecular imprinting.
• The findings contribute to the advancement of biomimetic recognition technologies.