Zipper-like magnetic molecularly imprinted microspheres for on/off-switchable recognition and extraction of 17β-estradiol from food samples

Zipper-like on/off-switchable and magnetic molecularly imprinted microspheres (SM-MIMs) were constructed using acrylamide (AAm) and 2-acrylamide-2-methyl propanesulfonic acid (AMPS) as functional monomers for 17β-estradiol (17β-E2) recognition and extraction. The imprinted polymer interactions between poly(AAm) (PAAm) and poly(AMPS) (PAMPS) with on/off-switchable property to temperature, exhibited dissociation at relatively higher temperatures (such as 30 °C) and helped 17β-E2 enter into imprinted sites, leading to higher binding capability. Conversely, the interpolymer complexes between PAAm and PAMPS formed and blocked 17β-E2 access to imprinted sites at lower temperature (such as 20 °C). SM-MIMs were used as dispersive solid phase extraction (SPE) adsorbent with HPLC for 17β-E2 pretreatment and detection in food samples, and low limit detection (2.52 µg L−1) and quantification (10.76 µg L−1) with higher recovery were obtained. Therefore, SM-MIMs may be a promising adsorbent for 17β-E2 pretreatment in food samples owing to its advantages of on/off-switchable recognition, eco-friendly elution, and efficient separation.