Computational design and synthesis of molecularly imprinted polymers with high binding capacity for pharmaceutical applications-model case: Adsorbent for abacavir

This paper reports the development of selective polymers with high binding capacity suitable for large scale solid-phase extraction (SPE), e.g. for industrial applications. The technology of molecular imprinting was employed in the synthesis of selective molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). Abacavir, which is a HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitor, was chosen as the target analyte. An already established computational protocol, developed in our group, was employed to select the best monomers leading to polymers with high binding capacity for the target compound. Three different monomer compositions were chosen for the synthesis. The synthesised materials were then tested for the rebinding of abacavir in solid-phase extraction using several different conditions (buffered/non-buffered solutions and in the presence/absence of organic solvents). The best MIP showed a surprisingly high binding capacity, up to 157 mg of drug/g of adsorbent. The high binding capacity could make this polymer suitable for industrial applications to purify and/or concentrate the drug during its production.