Molecularly imprinted membranes for cinchona alkaloids separation

Molecular imprinting has been found to be an effective technique in formation of molecular recognition sites within synthetic polymers. In this paper, an approach for preparing imprinted monolith membranes is described. These membranes are selectively permeable for template molecules but transport of others species is mostly limited. The monolithic membranes were obtained by polymerizing mixtures of methacrylic acid and dimethacrylate crosslinkers within microporous support of filtered paper. Cinchonine and cinchonidine served as template molecules. The measured transport stereoselectivity varied from 1.1 to 3.7 depending on the system used. It was observed also that presence of cinchonine in the monomer mixture made membrane more permeable while cinchonidine reduced its permeability.