Synthesis and characterization of magnetic-molecularly imprinted polymers for the HPLC-UV analysis of ametryn

Magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer (mag-MIP) were developed for the analysis of ametryn (4-Nethyl-6-methylsulfanyl-2-N-propan-2-yl-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine), a popular triazine herbicide. Iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles were synthetized, and then modified with tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and 3-mercaptopropyl-trimethoxysilane (MPS). Then MIPs' polymerimerization occurred in the nanoparticles' surface, using ethylene-glycol-dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as the building monomer, 2,2'-azobis(2-methylpropionitrile) (AIBN) as the radical initiator, and 2-vinylpyridine as the functional monomer. The functional monomer was previously chosen by computational simulation. The mag-MIPs' adsorption behavior well-fitted a Langmuir model (q(m)of 8.6 mg g(-1),K-L of 5.2 L mg(-1)) and pseudo first order kinetics (k(1) of 2.5 x 10(-4) s(-1)). The developed analytical methodology, using high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection (HPLC-UV), showed suitable selectivity and had a limit of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) of 25 and 82 nmol L-1, respectively.