Magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles for selective solid phase extraction and pre-concentration of Tizanidine in human urine

In this work, the magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles (MMIP-NPs) for the selective pre-concentration of Tizanidine have been described. The polymer nanoparticles were synthesized by the polymerization of methacrylic acid as a functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as a cross-linker, 2,2-azobisisobutyronitrile as an initiator and Tizanidine as a template molecule. The MMIP-NPs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermogravimeteric analysis (TGA). Imprinted Tizanidine molecules were removed from the polymeric structure using acetic acid in methanol (10:90 V/V%), as the eluent solvent. The limits of detection (L.O.D) for Tizanidine were 1.13 x 10(-6) M and 1.68 x 10(-6) M in ultrapure water and urine, respectively. Also, the relative standard deviations (R.S.D) in ultrapure water and urine were 2.21% and 2.58%, respectively. The method was applied to the determination of Tizanidine in the human urine samples. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.