Evaluation of the polymerization and recognition mechanism for phenol imprinting SPE

in order to develop more efficient preparation technologies for imprinted polymers (MIPs), the nature of pre-polymerization and molecular recognition in MIP was investigated by molecular dynamics modeling (MD), H-1 NMR, FTIR and some indirect techniques. Phenol was used as the template for the study of mechanism through the analysis of hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic and pi-pi bonding interaction. The 4-vinylpyridine-based MIP had the highest selectivity to its phenol template. Hydrogen bonding was proved to be present by characterizing the pre-polymerization complex and evaluating the recognition process and the effects of rebinding solvents were also studied. It was found that a good rebinding solvent should have less affinity with both template and polymer, but good solubility. MD modeling and some indirect techniques demonstrated that 4-vinylpyridine-based MIP recognized phenol mainly through hydrophobic interactions when the rebinding medium was water, while hydrogen bonding was present in the recognition process when the rebinding solvent was n-hexane.