Synthesis of imprinted beads by aqueous suspension polymerisation for chiral recognition of antihistamines

A novel non-stabilised aqueous suspension polymerisation methodology for the preparation of spherical molecularly imprinted polymers is described with chlorpheniramine (CP), d-chlorpheniramine (d-CP), brompheniramine (BP) and d-brompheniramine (d-BP) as the templates, respectively. Using this rapid and simple technique, controlled polymer beads in the low micron range with narrow size distributions were generated by photo-polymerisation. The use of agitation speed as a method of controlling bead size distribution was demonstrated. Enantioselective properties of the imprinted beads were examined and the polymers prepared using d-chlorpheniramine and d-brompheniramine were capable of discriminating between the enantiomers of the template. Cross-selectivity studies were performed by batch rebinding with the influence of template size and functional group orientation of analytes on the recognition properties of the imprinted polymers investigated. Physical characteristics of all polymers were studied by nitrogen sorption porosimetry, particle size analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in order to gain an insight into the role of such properties on retention behaviour.