Molecularly imprinted microspheres for highly selective separation of diosgenin

摘要

Molecular imprinting polymers (MIPs) are synthetic materials having specific cavities which are highly specific towards the template molecule. In this paper, diosgenin-imprinted polymer microspheres (DG-MIPs) were prepared by precipitation polymerization, using diosgenin as template, methacrylic acid as functional monomer and ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate as crosslinker. The morphology and adsorption capacity of the microspheres were evaluated by HPLC and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The optimal reaction conditions were as follows: 2 mM DG, 6mM MMA, 60 mM EGDMA and 4 mM AIBN. The method developed might be used to separate and extract effective constituents from Chinese medicinal plants on a large scale.