Molecularly Imprinted Micro- and Nano-Particles by Precipitation Polymerization
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Molecularly Imprinted Micro- and Nano-Particles by Precipitation Polymerization Lei Ye Pure and Applied Biochemistry, Chemical Center, Lund University, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden ABSTRACT Molecularly imprinted micro- and nano-particles can be conveniently prepared using precipitation polymerization method. By controlling the initial reaction composition, the resulting polymer particles may be obtained as uniform beads that display favourable binding characteristics. Incorporation of a novel reporter element resulted in an imprinted scintillation polymer that displayed an enhanced signalling efficiency. INTRODUCTION Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have attracted great research interests in the recent years. Development in polymerization methods has made it possible to prepare uniform MIPs, e.g. beads ranging from sub-micron to a few hundred micrometers capable of selective binding to a large variety of template molecules and their analogues. Among the different preparation methods used for generating imprinted polymer beads, precipitation polymerization has its unique advantage, as it does not involve interfering stabilization reagents during the course of particle formation [1]. By this method imprinted micro- and nano-particles can be synthesized from a dilute solution of template, functional monomer, cross-linker and initiator that are dissolved in a conventional imprinting solvent, e.g. acetonitrile. By controlling the initial reaction composition and polymerization condition, the resulting polymer particles may be obtained as uniform beads that display favourable binding characteristics. Imprinted micro- and nanoparticles prepared by precipitation polymerization method have displayed superior performance in binding assays, where both radioisotopes [1] and enzyme labels [2,3] were used for the most sensitive quantification of analytes. In addition, they have also been successfully used as chiral selectors in capillary electrophoretic separation [4], and as stationary phase for solid phase extraction of a phenylurea herbicide [5]. More recently, a new sensor concept was demonstrated by combining the principles of molecular imprinting and proximity energy transfer, where the confined dimension of micro- and nano-particles allowed a universal reporter element to be fixed in a close proximity to imprinted binding sites. In this way the bound analytes can be easily sensed by the neighbouring reporter to generate a detectable fluorescence signal [6,7]. Discussed in this communication is a more efficient signal transduction system useful for MIP-based assays. Improvement of signalling efficiency was achieved by using a more efficient reporter element during the imprinting reaction. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS Materials Divinylbenzene (tech., 80%, mixture of isomers) obtained from Aldrich (Dorset, UK) was passed through an aluminium oxide column to remove polymerization inhibitor prior to use. Methacrylic acid and azobisisobutyronitrile were purchased from Merck (Darmstadt, FRG). (S)propranolol hydrochloride and (R)-p
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