Synthesis and application of an oxytetracycline imprinted polymer for the solid-phase extraction of tetracycline antibiotics

Two molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) were synthesised using tetracycline and oxytetracycline antibiotics as template molecules in non-covalent molecular imprinting procedures. After a chromatographic evaluation, the performance of the MIPs as selective SPE sorbents was evaluated. In this study, it was demonstrated that after a clean-up step to disrupt the non-specific interactions between the MIPs and the compounds retained on them, the polymers showed cross-reactivity for certain other tetracycline analytes. The feasibility of the MIP to selectively extract tetracycline antibiotics in pig kidney tissue extract was demonstrated with the oxytetracycline MIP which gave rise to the best MISPE results when it was applied. Good recoveries were obtained when oxytetracycline and tetracycline were selectively extracted from 25 ml of pig kidney tissue extract.