Uniformly sized molecularly imprinted polymers for d-chlorpheniramine: Influence of a porogen on their morphology and enantioselectivity

Uniformly sized molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for d-chlorpheniramine have been prepared by a multi-step swelling and polymerization method using methacrylic acid (MAA) or 2-(trifluoromethyl)acrylic acid (TFMAA) as a functional monomer and toluene, phenylacetonitrile, benzylacetonitrile or chloroform as a porogen. From measurement of their scanning electron microscopy images and physical properties in the dry state, the MIP prepared using TFMAA and chloroform as the functional monomer and porogen, respectively, seemed to be non-porous and had extremely low specific surface areas and pore volumes, while the other MIPs were porous beads with high specific surface areas and pore volumes. All the MIPs prepared were evaluated using hydro-organic mobile phases in HPLC. As a result, they showed the similar retentive and enantioselective properties for chlorpheniramine, brompheniramine and pheniramine. This result suggests the presence of enantioselective binding sites in the swollen state for all the MIPs.