Preparation, characterization and application of molecularly imprinted monolithic column for hesperetin

• The molecularly imprinted monolithic column was prepared firstly for hesperetin.
• The synthesized MIPs was employed as novel sorbent for extraction of hesperetin.
• Good selectivity of MIPs were achieved by optimization of experimental conditions.
• Purification of hesperetin from orange flesh was firstly actualized by the method.

The molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MISPE) monolithic column coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was firstly developed for the extraction of hesperetin in the flesh of Citrus reticulata cv. Chachiensis, which is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have been prepared by a thermal polymerization method using hesperetin as the template, acrylamide (AM) as functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylamide (EGDMA) as cross-linker in the mixed porogen of methanol, toluene and dodecanol. The prepared MIPs were characterized in detail by SEM and FTIR. The results confirmed the uniform and open structure of network skeleton with large flow-through pores. The influence of synthesis conditions on the specific recognition properties of hesperetin MIPs were also investigated systematically. The results showed that high adsorption capacity and good selectivity of MIPs were achieved when using non-imprinted polymer monolith (NIP) and structure similarly compound rutin as references. Furthermore, several parameters of the MISPE method have been optimized, and then it was successfully applied to the extraction of hesperetin from the flesh of Citrus reticulata cv. Chachiensis. Good gathering and impurity removing ability of prepared MIP were demonstrated. The MISPE method was proven to be a potentially competitive technique for separation and cleanup of hesperetin in complex TCM with satisfied recovery (90.8 ± 3.2%) and good precision (RSD = 6.48%).

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