MOLECULARLY IMPRINTED POLYMERS - USEFUL MATERIALS FOR ANALYTICAL-CHEMISTRY

Molecular imprinting is a technique for producing chemically selective binding sites, which recognize a particular molecule, in a macroporou s polymer matrix. This paper reviews recent advances in imprinting met hodology, particularly emphasizing some recently introduced functional monomers and methods which directly yield polymeric material suitable for chromatography. Following this, attempts to incorporate imprinted polymers into a range of analytical methodologies are critically disc ussed, with some pointers to likely directions for future research.