Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) for Environmental and Pharmaceutical Analysis

Molecular imprinting is a technique first developed in the middle of the last century and, having now evolved into a powerful tool, is involved in a variety of processes including solid-phase extractions (SPE), sensing, enantiomer resolution and industrial-scale separations.
In a nutshell, molecular imprinting utilises the characteristics of a molecular template, such as chemical functionality, polarity, shape, and size, to create a polymeric mould around it, much like a footprint in wet cement; this can later be used to selectively bind the template and closely related substances and extract them from a complex sample.
Due to their exceptional binding affinity, which in many cases is comparable with or exceeds that of natural receptors, e.g antibodies or enzymes, imprinted polymers are often referred to as “plastic antibodies”.
The aim of this project will be to design and synthesise Molecularly Imprinted Polymers able to recognise compounds of environmental and/or pharmaceutical interest. These will be evaluated as selective sorbents in separation protocols and ultimately employed as sensing elements able to signal the presence of the targeted substances in relevant samples or processes.