A 9-vinyladenine-based molecularly imprinted polymeric membrane for the efficient recognition of plant hormone 1H-indole-3-acetic acid

9-Vinyladenine was synthesized as a novel functional monomer for molecular imprinting techniques and its structure was established with elemental analysis and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The binding mechanism between this functional monomer 9-vinyladenine and the plant hormone 1H-indole-3-acetic acid in acetonitrile was studied with UV–vis spectrophotometry. Based on this study, using 1H-indole-3-acetic acid as a template molecule, a specific 9-vinyladenine-based molecularly imprinted polymeric membrane was prepared. Then, the resultant polymeric membrane morphologies were visualized with scanning electron microscopy, and the membrane permselectivity for 1H-indole-3-acetic acid, 1H-indole-3-butyric acid and kinetin was tested with separate experiments and competitive diffusion experiments. These results showed that the imprinted polymeric membrane prepared with 9-vinyladenine exhibited higher transport selectivity for the template molecule 1H-indole-3-acetic acid than 1H-indole-3-butyric acid or kinetin. The membrane prepared with 9-vinyladenine also took on higher permselectivity for 1H-indole-3-acetic acid in comparison with the imprinted membrane made with methacrylic acid. It is predicted that the 9-vinyladenine-based molecularly imprinted membrane may be applicable to the assay of 1H-indole-3-acetic acid or for the preparation of a molecularly imprinted polymer sensor for the analysis of 1H-indole-3-acetic acid in plant samples.