A 9-vinyladenine-based molecularly imprinted polymeric membrane for the efficient recognition of plant hormone 1H-indole-3-acetic acid

9-Vinyladenine was synthesized as a novel functional monomer for molecular imprinting techniques and its structure was established with elemental analysis and H-1 NMR spectroscopy. The binding mechanism between this functional monomer 9-vinyladenine and the plant hormone H-1-indole-3-acetic acid in acetonitrile was studied with UV-vis spectrophotometry. Based on this study, using H-1-indole-3-acetic acid as a template molecule, a specific 9-vinyladenine-based molecularly imprinted polymeric membrane was prepared. Then, the resultant polymeric membrane morphologies were visualized with scanning electron microscopy, and the membrane permselectivity for H-1-indole-3-acetic acid, H-1-indole-3-butyric acid and kinetin was tested with separate experiments and competitive diffusion experiments. These results showed that the imprinted polymeric membrane prepared with 9-vinyladenine exhibited higher transport selectivity for the template molecule H-1-indole-3-acetic acid than H-1-indole-3-butyric acid or kinetin. The membrane prepared with 9-vinyladenine also took on higher permselectivity for H-1-indole-3-acetic acid in comparison with the imprinted membrane made with methacrylic acid. It is predicted that the 9-vinyladenine-based molecularly imprinted membrane may be applicable to the assay of H-1-indole-3-acetic acid or for the preparation of a molecularly imprinted polymer sensor for the analysis of H-1-indole-3-acetic acid in plant samples. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.