Work

Amidinium salt bridges for real-world applications of molecularly imprinted polymers

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Günter Wulff and Klaus Mosbach pioneered the molecular imprinting technique in the 70s and 80s, respectively, using complementary approaches. An important development in noncovalent molecular imprinting was the use by Wulff of strong salt bridge interactions displayed by amidinium-phosphate and amidinium-phosphonate complexes in catalytically-active enzyme mimicking molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). Inspired by their work, others used amidine monomers and their strong pairing with carboxylate groups in the aim of generating molecular imprints in polar organic solvents and in aqueous solutions. The strong directional salt bridge association between amidine and carboxylate template yields MIPs with high affinity and specificity for their target, allowing applications even in challenging complex environments such as human sweat, urine, and cellular and tissue extracts. Herein, we review the use of amidine monomers as well as related guanidine monomers in molecular imprinting, from the time of Wulff to nowadays, highlighting recent advances and applications from the literature, and discuss future directions in this area.

Source: TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry

DOI: 10.1016/j.trac.2025.118509

Authors: Bernadette Tse Sum Bui, Karsten Haupt

Institutions: Université de Technologie de Compiègne, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Enzyme and Cell Engineering - Molecular Recognition and Biocatalysis, Institut Universitaire de France

Language: English

Topic: Analytical chemistry methods development

Subfield: Analytical Chemistry

Field: Chemistry

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $5,150

Funder: Institut Universitaire de France