title: Macromolecular crowding-assisted fabrication of liquid-crystalline imprinted polymers.
abstract: A macromolecular crowding-assisted liquid-crystalline molecularly imprinted monolith (LC-MIM) was prepared successfully for the first time. The imprinted stationary phase was synthesized with polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) or polystyrene (PS) as the crowding agent, 4-cyanophenyl dicyclohexyl propylene (CPCE) as the liquid-crystal monomer, and hydroquinidine as the pseudo-template for the chiral separation of cinchona alkaloids in HPLC. A low level of cross-linker (26%) has been found to be sufficient to achieve molecular recognition on the crowding-assisted LC-MIM due to the physical cross-linking of mesogenic groups in place of chemical cross-linking, and baseline separation of quinidine and quinine could be achieved with good resolution (R(s) = 2.96), selectivity factor (α = 2.16), and column efficiency (N = 2650 plates/m). In contrast, the LC-MIM prepared without crowding agents displayed the smallest diastereoselectivity (α = 1.90), while the crowding-assisted MIM with high level of cross-linker (80%) obtained the greatest selectivity factor (α = 7.65), but the lowest column efficiency (N = 177 plates/m).
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory on Technologies Enabling Development of Clinical Therapeutics and Diagnostics (Theranostics), School of Pharmacy, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300070, China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yan-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Zhao-Sheng
authors.initials: ZS
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000097:Acetonitriles / Q000737:chemistry; D060326:Chemistry Techniques, Synthetic; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D002930:Cinchona Alkaloids / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents / Q000737:chemistry; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D050866:Liquid Crystals / Q000737:chemistry*; D054802:Molecular Imprinting / Q000379:methods*; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate / Q000737:chemistry; D011137:Polystyrenes / Q000737:chemistry*; D011802:Quinidine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D011803:Quinine / Q000032:analysis; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D000097:Acetonitriles; D002930:Cinchona Alkaloids; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents; D011137:Polystyrenes; C014486:hydroquinidine; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate; D011803:Quinine; D011802:Quinidine; C032159:acetonitrile