VERSATILE SYNTHESIS OF MIPs FOR SENSING APPLICATIONS

Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) are synthetic materials obtained by polymerization in presence of molecular templates, which feature binding sites with recognition properties on a par with those of antibodies, hormone receptors and enzymes.¹

Mostly made of poly(meth)acrylates, MIPs offer superior physico-chemical properties compared to their natural counterparts, together with low costs and easy engineering. These features allow MIPs to match the requirements of a wide range of applications wherein a recognition process is involved, with (bio)chemical sensing being one of the most prominent examples.²

In bio-/chemo-sensors, MIPs perfectly fit the role of “recognition element” and due to their flexibility in terms of physical forms and interfacing strategies, they can easily combine with a variety of transducers, affording to “hybrid” imprinted materials.³

In this perspective, further spreading the synthetic routes to hybrid MIPs becomes of paramount importance to boost, for instance, the versatility of MIP-based (bio)chemo-sensors.

With this contribution, we therefore propose an innovative approach to the surface-initiated synthesis of MIP composite, based on controlled photo-polymerization via low intensity visible light.⁴ A general strategy is proposed which applies to the synthesis in organic as well as aqueous media with the possibility, through slightly modified experimental conditions, to make the pre-polymerization solutions “oxygen tolerant”.⁵ This is expected to remarkably increase the photo-structuring opportunities for MIPs.

[1] Haupt K., (2012) Molecular Imprinting, Ed. Springer 325, 1–362.

[2] Cieplak, M.; Kutner, W. (2016) Arti fi cial Biosensors : How Can Molecular Imprinting Mimic Biorecognition ? Trends in Biotechnology, 34, 922–941.

[3] Beyazit, S.; Bui, B. T. S.; Haupt, K.; Gonzato, C. (2016 ) Molecularly imprinted polymer nanomaterials and nanocomposites by controlled/ living radical polymerization. Progress in Polymer Science 62, 1–21.

[4] Garcia-Soto, M. J.; Haupt, K.; Gonzato, C. (2017) Synthesis of molecularly imprinted polymers by photo-iniferter polymerization under visible light Polym. Chem. 8, 4830–4834.

[5] Xu, J.; Jung, K.; Atme, A.; Shanmugam, S.; Boyer, C.(2014) A robust and versatile photoinduced living polymerization of conjugated and unconjugated monomers and its oxygen tolerance. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 136, 5508–5519.