MOLECULARLY IMPRINTED UNIFORM-SIZE POLYMER-BASED STATIONARY-PHASE FORHIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY - STRUCTURAL CONTRIBUTION OF CROSS-LINKED POLYMER NETWORK ON SPECIFIC MOLECULAR RECOGNITION

Non-covalently molecularly imprinted, uniform-size, polymer-based, sta tionary phases were prepared by a two-step swelling technique using is omers of diaminonaphthalene or a chiral amide derived from (S)-alpha-m ethylbenzylamine as the template molecule. Methacrylic acid worked as an effective host molecule for diaminonaphthalene templates, however, an imprinted, cross-linked, polymer-based, stationary phase without su ch a relatively strong host functionality unexpectedly showed moderate molecular recognition, which suggested that the cross-linked polymer network could memorize the shape of a template. In chiral separation o f amide derivatives, a cross-linked polymer network also memorized the shape of a chiral template, resulting in chiral resolution. In additi on, a chiral cross-linking agent having similar functionality to the c hiral amide template could enhance molecular recognition drastically. Further studies suggested that this enhancement in chiral recognition was due to a favorable structural interaction within the specific reco gnition sites.