Molecularly imprinted polymers with novel functional monomer for selective solid-phase extraction of gastrodin from the aqueous extract of Gastrodia elata

• Synthesis of MIPs with novel functional monomer as a selective sorbent for extraction of gastrodin.
• An environment-friendly material with water used in the loading and eluting process of molecularly imprinted solid phase extraction.
• Application of the optimized protocol for the extraction of gastrodin from the aqueous extract of Gastrodia elata roots.

Molecular imprinted polymers (MIPs) with high selectivity and affinity to gastrodin in water were designed using allyl 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-glucopyranoside (TAGL) and 1,2,3,4,5-pentafluoro-6-vinylbenzene (PFVB) as novel functional monomers. Binding characterization of pre-polymerization complexes was researched by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and the MIPs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The properties involving adsorption isotherm, adsorption kinetics and selective recognition capacity were evaluated. The MIPs/TAGL exhibited good site accessibility in which it only took 30 min to achieve adsorption equilibrium and highly selective recognition for the template. Furthermore, the performance of the MIPs/TAGL as solid phase extraction material was investigated in detail and hot water at 50 °C served as the eluting solvent. Pure gastrodin with the recovery of 76.6% was obtained from the aqueous extract of Gastrodia elata roots.