Preparation and performance valuation of high selective molecularly imprinted polymers for malachite green

Molecular imprinting is a technology that facilitates the production of artificial receptors toward compounds of interest. In this study, we prepared a series of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) by precipitation polymerization for the purpose of binding specifically to malachite green (MG). The presence of monomer–template solution complexes in non-covalent MIPs systems had been verified by UV-spectrometric detection and molecular dynamics simulations. The synthesized parameters were, respectively, optimized and the optimal conditions for the efficient adsorption property were as follows: template: MG, 1 mmol; functional monomer: methacrylic acid (MAA), 8 mmol; cross-linker: ethylene glycol dimethacryllate, 16 mmol; and porogen: acetonitrile, 30 mL. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and nitrogen adsorption experiments were used to characterize the MIPs. Scatchard analysis was used for estimation of the dissociation constants and maximum amounts of binding sites. The polymer based on MAA had two classes of heterogeneous binding sites characterized by two values of KD and Bmax: KD = 14.10 μmol L−1 and Bmax = 1.37 μmol g−1 for the higher affinity binding sites, and KD = 384.62 μmol L−1 and Bmax = 24.77 μmol g−1 for the lower affinity binding sites. The specificity of MIPs on SPE column was evaluated by rebinding the other structurally similar compounds. The results indicated that the imprinted polymers exhibited an excellent stereo-selectivity toward MG.