Hydrogen bond diversity in the pre-polymerization stage contributes to morphology and MIP-template recognition - MAA versus MMA

This report demonstrates that the diversity of hydrogen bond interactions present in molecularly imprinted polymer pre-polymerization mixtures, typically associated with binding-site heterogeneity, can also contribute to morphological characteristics that may influence polymer-template recognition. Comparisons have been made between a series of bupivacaine molecularly imprinted methacrylic acid (MAA)-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) copolymers and a series of analogous methyl methacrylate (MMA)-EGDMA copolymers using comprehensive molecular dynamics studies of the respective pre-polymerization mixtures, template-polymer binding studies and detailed BET surface area and BJH porosity analyses. The role of the carboxylic acid functionality of MAA, and in particular the acidic proton, in generating morphological features conducive to analyte access (slit-like rather than ink bottle-like structures) and recognition is discussed. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.