Reusable phosphorescent probes based on molecularly imprinted polymers for the determination of propranolol in urine

The combination of the molecular imprinting techniques with room temperature phosphorescent detection was applied to the development of a simple and easy to regenerate probe for the determination of the beta-blocker propranolol in urine samples. First, bulk brominated polyurethanes were synthesized to ensure the applicability of the imprinting methodology with phosphorescent detection to the target molecule and then the polymerization was carried out onto glass slides to generate thin molecularly imprinted films. The analyte recognized by the imprinted-polymeric layer exhibited intense phosphorescence with a maximum at 520 nm for an excitation wavelength of 314 nm. Under optimized experimental conditions, the detection limit achieved was 22 mu g/L of propranolol, whereas the limit of quantification was 73 mu g/L of propranolol and the response was linear at least up to 1 mg/L of propranolol. Finally, these reusable probes were successfully applied to urine samples analysis. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.