Boronate affinity directing adenosine imprinted nanomagnetic polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes for selective extraction of nucleosides in urine sample

In this work, a facile method was developed for preparing adenosine molecularly imprinted (MI-) utilizing boronate affinity. The preparation was performed on the surface of boronic acid-functionalized nanomagnetic polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (Fe3O4@POSS) by copolymerization of vinyl end groups of Fe3O4@POSS in the presence of adenosine template. The obtained Fe3O4@MI-POSS possesses a mesoporous architecture with a large specific surface area (351.09 m2 g-1). Emphasizing that the binding capacity and imprinting factor of adenosine and guanine are much higher than that of other two structural analogs (cytidine and uridine), demonstrating its excellent recognition selectivity and specificity towards target analytes. As a selective solidphase extractant, it was applied successfully for the determination of adenosine and guanine in urine matrix in combination with HPLC-UV. The average recoveries for target analytes were in the range of 85.5 - 104.9% with the relative standard deviations of intra- and inter-day less than 9.0% (n = 3). The limits of detections (S/N = 3) were 2.1 ng mL-1 for Ade and 6.5 ng mL-1 for Gua, respectively. The present work provides a model to fabricate various MI-materials specific to important target biomolecules, moreover, it opens a useful way for imprinting bioanalysis concerning analytes with high water solubility, thereby a wide variety of applications in different complex biosystems are foreseeable.

Automated summary

A facile method utilizing boronate affinity was developed for preparing adenosine molecularly imprinted materials with excellent recognition selectivity and specificity. The obtained material was successfully applied as a selective solid-phase extractant for the determination of adenosine and guanine, showing good recovery rates and stability.