Preparation of Molecularly Imprinted Metoprolol Sensor from Poly(aniline-co-p-toluene sulfonic acid)

In this study, the metoprolol (MTP), which is a beta-blocker class molecule used in hypertension treatment, was determined by modifying the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) with a molecular imprinting technique. Firstly, p-toluene sulfonic acid (PTSA) and aniline (AN) were co-electropolymerized in the presence of MTP as a template molecule on GCE and MTP contained poly(aniline-co-p-toluene sulfonic acid) (p(AN-co-PTSA)) film was obtained. Then, the template metoprolol molecule was desorbed from the conductive p(AN-co-PTSA) film structure on the GCE surface using hydrochloric acid. Obtained molecularly imprinted electrodes were used to determine MTP by the square wave voltammetry (SWV) method. The modified electrodes obtained showed a correlation coefficient (R-2) of 0.9995 in the 40-1500 mu M MTP concentration range. The limit of detection (LOD) and the limit of quantification (LOQ) of the p(AN-co-PTSA) film modified MTP electrodes were 37.9 mu M and 126.3 mu M, respectively. A standard deviation of 1.33% was observed for the first three replicates with the same modified electrode. For the time reproduced electrodes, stable reproducibility was achieved between the first electrode result and the tenth electrode result. For the modified MTP electrode, the relative standard deviation (RSD%) value was calculated to be 2.53%. As result, the molecularly imprinted electrodes prepared with p(AN-co-PTSA) film have low response time, high reproducibility, good stability, and high selectivity for the determination of MTP.

Automated summary

In this study, a molecularly imprinted electrode modified with a molecular imprinting technique was used to determine the metoprolol concentration. The modified electrodes showed a high correlation coefficient, low detection limits, and good stability and reproducibility. This method provides a fast and accurate way to determine metoprolol levels.