title: Insight into molecular imprinting in precipitation polymerization systems using solution NMR and dynamic light scattering.
abstract: Molecular imprinting is a powerful synthetic technique for generating template-defined binding sites in cross-linked polymers. One scientific challenge in molecular imprinting research is to understand the intermolecular interactions leading to molecular complexation and the process of binding site formation during polymerization. In this work, we present a novel method for studying the molecular imprinting process in precipitation polymerization systems. This method employs solution (1) H NMR and dynamic light scattering (DLS) to investigate the association of template molecules with colloidal particles and the dynamic process of particle growth. Under precipitation polymerization conditions, the colloidal particles formed did not interfere with NMR signals from the soluble components, allowing unreacted monomers and free template to be easily quantified. To examine the process of particle nucleation and growth, DLS was used to measure the hydrodynamic particle size at different reaction times. To corroborate the interpretation of the NMR and DLS results, imprinted nanoparticles were collected at different reaction times and their binding characteristics were evaluated using radioligand-binding analysis. Our experimental results provide new insights into the molecular imprinting process that will be useful in the development of new imprinted nanoparticles.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pure and Applied Biochemistry, Chemical Center, Lund University, Box 124, 22100 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: Joseph Y N
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Philip
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schillén
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ye
mesh_terms: D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D054802:Molecular Imprinting / Q000379:methods*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D012542:Scattering, Radiation