IMPRINTED DISPERSION POLYMERS - A NEW CLASS OF EASILY ACCESSIBLE AFFINITY STATIONARY PHASES

Non-stabilizing dispersion polymerization in combination with molecula r imprinting was used to prepare agglomerates of globular micron-sized particles exhibiting molecular recognition properties. These could be prepared either in situ in a chromatographic column or separately fol lowed by wet or dry packing of the material. This allowed a rapid chro matographic evaluation of the molecular recognition properties of the materials. Depending on the monomer concentration and the solvency of the dispersion medium the particle dispersity, the degree of particle agglomeration and the average particle size varied. The choice of disp ersion medium was mainly dictated by the template solubility and the n ature of the interactions between the functionalized monomers (methacr ylic acid) and the template used for producing the molecular recogniti on sites. Addition of water to the dispersion medium allowed imprintin g of the poorly soluble template pentamidine (PAM), a drug used for th e treatment of AIDS-related disorders. The PAM-imprinted materials pre pared in situ in the chromatographic column strongly retained the drug in the chromatographic evaluation compared to the retention of PAM on a reference material prepared using benzamidine as template (separati on factor alpha' = 6.8). Meanwhile weakly or moderately basic template s from the group nucleotide bases (tri-O-acetyladenosine), herbicides (atrazine) and chiral amino acid derivatives (L-phenylalanine anilide) required low temperature and exclusion of water during imprinting in order to produce the recognition effect.