Iodo Silanes as Superior Substrates for the Solid Phase Synthesis of Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Nanoparticles

Current state-of-the-art techniques for the solid phase synthesis of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) nanoparticles typically rely on amino silanes for the immobilisation of template molecules prior to polymerisation. An investigation into commonly used amino silanes identified a number of problematic side reactions which negatively affect the purity and affinity of these polymers. Iodo silanes are presented as a superior alternative in a case study describing the synthesis of MIPs against epitopes of a common cancer biomarker, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The proposed iodo silane outperformed the amino silane by all metrics tested, showing high purity and specificity, and nanomolar affinity for the target peptide.

Automated summary

Current techniques for the solid phase synthesis of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) nanoparticles often use amino silanes for template immobilization prior to polymerization. However, a study found that these amino silanes have problematic side reactions that negatively impact the purity and affinity of the polymers. In this case study, iodo silanes were proposed as a superior alternative and were used to successfully synthesize MIPs targeting epitopes of the cancer biomarker EGFR, showing higher purity, specificity, and nanomolar affinity for the target peptide.