Preparation and evaluation of a monolithic molecularly imprinted polymer for the chiral separation of neurotransmitters and their analogues by capillary electrochromatography

A monolithic molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) column was prepared as the stationary phase for the capillary electrochromatographic (CEC) separation of a group of structurally related compounds including dopamine (DA), (+/-)-epinephrine (EP), (-)-isoproterenol (ISO), (+/-)-norepinephrine (NE), (+/-)-octopamine (OCT), and (+/-)-synephrine (SYN). Here, (-)-NE was used as the template. Either methacrylic acid (MAA) or itaconic acid (IA) together with a mixture of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EDMA) and alpha,alpha'-azobis(isobutyronitrile)(AIBN) in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) was introduced into a pre-treated, silanised, fused-silica capillary by a thermal non-covalent polymerisation procedure. Optimised conditions for the polymerisation reaction were assessed by the separation efficiency of the template. Both the template/monomer/cross linker molar ratio and the compositions of the functional monomer, crosslinker, and porogen affected polymerisation. The optimum in situ polymerisation reaction was performed at 65 degrees C for 17 min. By varying CEC parameters like eluent composition and pH, we observed that the addition of SDS to the eluent clearly improved the CEC separations. With a mobile phase of citrate buffer (10 mM, pH 3)/SDS (40 mM)/acetonitrile (2/2/1, v/v/v) solution and an applied voltage of 10 kV, the six related structures of the template and their enantiomeric mixtures were satisfactorily separated at 30 degrees C. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.