Molecularly imprinted polymers synthesized via semi-covalent imprinting with sacrificial spacer for imprinting phenols

Semi-covalent imprinting with carbonyl group as sacrificial spacer was employed to synthesize molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for phenols. A series of semi-covalently imprinted polymers were prepared by varying the templates and porogens. The MIP with 4-chlorophenyl (4-vinyl)phenyl carbonate as template was proved to be the best one, with ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as cross-linker, 2,2-azobisisobutyronitrile(AIBN), and chloroform as initiator and porogen, respectively. Under such conditions, the corresponding non-covalently imprinted polymer was fabricated with 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) as template and 4-vinylpyridine (4-VP) as functional monomer. The polymer prepared by semi-covalent imprinting displayed superior selectivity to the non-covalently imprinted polymer for phenols. The peak broadening and tailing had been largely reduced on the column packed with semi-covalently imprinted polymer. Meanwhile, the constant retention for these phenols and the good linearity for phenol and 4-CP augured that the semi-covalently imprinted polymer had the potential application as stationary phase for quantitative determination of phenols.