Selective photooxidation of chlorophenols with molecularly imprinted polymers containing a photosensitizer

Molecularly imprinted polymers containing a photosensitizer, rose bengal (RB), were synthesized via a polymerization of methacrylic acid (MAA) as a functional monomer and chlorophenols as template molecules. The polymeric sensitizers promote selective oxidation of target chlorophenol in water with molecular oxygen under visible light irradiation (lambda > 530 nm). This is due to the selective attraction of the target substrate onto the molecular recognition site on the polymer followed by efficient oxidation of the substrate by a singlet oxygen produced by the photoexcited RB units located in the vicinity of the recognition site.