A High-Throughput Screening of N-Carbobenzoxy-L-Tryptophan Imprinted Polymers and their Application for Monolithic Chiral Stationary Phase

Abstract

Molecular imprinting is a technique to prepare polymers with predetermined selectivity, specific recognition and predesigned affinity to a desired molecule. The stability and low cost of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) render them attractive for a broad range of applications. Currently, MIP technique has been widely used in chiral separation. In this study, a series of molecularly imprinted polymers for N-Carbobenzoxy-L-tryptophan (N-Cbz-L-Trp) synthesized in different conditions were prepared in a small scale to simulate the monolithic chiral stationary phases (CSPs) primarily. By coupling in situ processing and batch rebinding evaluation, the type of functional monomers, which likely to affect the chiral selectivity of MIPs, was investigated. It was found that a MIP comprising a mixture of functional monomer 4-vinylpyridine (4-VP) and porogen 1-dodecanol/toluene exhibited the highest binding capacity and chiral selectivity for N-Carbobenzoxy-L-tryptophan. Thereafter, the monolithic MIP synthesized in screened optimum condition is used as chiral stationary phase in HPLC, which shows favourable separating capacity.