Synthesis of molecularly imprinted polymer as a sorbent for solid phase extraction of citalopram from human serum and urine

Fabrication and application of molecularly imprinted polymer doped carbon dots coated silica stationary phase

Facing the difficulties in chromatographic separation of polar compounds, this investigation devotes to developing novel stationary phase. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have aroused wide attention, owing to their outstanding selectivity, high stability, and low cost. In this work, a novel stationary phase based on carbon dots (CDs), MIP layer, and silica beads was synthesized to exploit high selectivity of MIPs, excellent physicochemical property of CDs, and outstanding chromatographic performances of silica microspheres simultaneously. The MIP doped CDs coated silica (MIP-CDs/SiO₂) stationary phase was systematically characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area measurement, and carbon elemental analysis. Furthermore, the chromatographic performance of the MIP-CDs/SiO₂ column was thoroughly assessed by using a wide variety of compounds (including nucleosides, sulfonamides, benzoic acids, and some other antibiotics). Meanwhile, the separation efficiency of the MIP-CDs/SiO₂ stationary phase was superior to other kinds of stationary phases (e.g. nonimprinted NIP-CDs/SiO₂, MIP/SiO₂, and C18-SiO₂). The results demonstrated that MIP-CDs/SiO₂ column exhibited best performance in terms of chromatographic separation. For all tested compounds, the resolution value was not less than 1.60, and the column efficiency of MIP-CDs/SiO₂ for thymidine was 22,740 plates/m. The results further indicate that the MIP-CDs/SiO₂ column can combine the good properties of MIP, CDs, with those of silica microbeads. Therefore, the developed MIP-CDs/SiO₂ stationary phase can be applied in the separation science and chromatography-based techniques.

Novel photo and bio-active greyish-black cotton fabric through air- and nitrogen- carbonized zinc-based MOF for developing durable functional textiles

This study explores the potential of using the carbonization of Zn-based metal-organic frameworks (Zn-MOF-5) under N2 and air to modify zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticle for the production of various photo and bio-active greyish-black cotton fabrics. The MOF-derived ZnO under N2 demonstrated a significantly higher specific surface area (259 m2g-1) compared to ZnO (12 m2g-1) and MOF-derived ZnO under air (41.6 m2 g-1). The products were characterized using various techniques, including FTIR, XRD, XPS, FE-SEM, TEM, HRTEM, TGA, DLS, and EDS. The tensile strength and dye degradation properties of the treated fabrics were also investigated. The results indicate that the high dye degradation capability of MOF-derived ZnO under N2 is likely due to the lower ZnO band gap energy and improvement in electron-hole pair stability. Additionally, the antibacterial activities of the treated fabrics against Staphylococcus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were investigated. The cytotoxicity of the fabrics was studied on human fibroblast cell lines using an MTT assay. The study findings demonstrate that the cotton fabric covered with carbonized Zn-MOF under N2 is human-cell compatible while showing high antibacterial activities and stability against washing, highlighting its potential for use in developing functional textiles with enhanced properties.

Sensitive determination of Fluoxetine and Citalopram antidepressants in urine and wastewater samples by liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detector

A new analyte separation and preconcentration method for the trace determination of antidepressant drugs, Fluoxetine (FLU) and Citalopram (CIT) in urine and wastewaters, was developed based on HPLC-DAD analysis after magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE). In the proposed method, FLU and CIT were retained on the newly synthetized magnetic sorbent (Fe₃O₄@PPy-GO) in the presence of buffer (pH 10.0) and then were desorbed into a lower volume of acetonitrile prior to the chromatographic determinations. Before HPLC analysis, all samples were filtered through a 0.45 µm PTFE filter. Experimental parameters such as interaction time, desorption solvent and volume, and pH were studied and optimized in order to establish the detection limit, linearity, enrichment factor and other analytical figures of merit under optimum operation conditions. In the developed method, FLU and CIT were analyzed by diode array detector at the corresponding maximum wavelengths of 227 and 238 nm, respectively, by using an isocratic elution of 60% pH 3.0 buffer, 30% acetonitrile, and 10% methanol. By using the optimum conditions, limit of detections for FLU and CIT were 1.58 and 1.43 ng mL^-1, respectively, while the limit of quantifications was 4.82 and 4.71 ng mL^-1, respectively. Relative standard deviations (RSD%) for triplicate analyses of model solutions containing 100 ng mL^-1 target molecules were found to be less than 5.0 %. Finally, the method was successfully applied to urine (both simulated and real healthy human) and wastewater samples, and quantitative results were obtained in recovery experiments.

Magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles for simultaneous extraction and determination of 6-mercaptopurine and its active metabolite thioguanine in human plasma

Cytotoxic drugs used in cancer chemotherapy require the continuous monitoring of their plasma concentration levels for dose adjustment purposes. Such condition necessitates the presence of a sensitive technique for accurate extraction and determination of these drugs together with their active metabolites. In this study a novel solid phase extraction technique using magnetic molecularly imprinted nanoparticles (MMI-SPE) is combined with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to extract and determine the anti-leukemic agent; 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) and its active metabolite thioguanine (TG) in human plasma. The magnetic molecularly imprinted nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄@MIP NPs) were synthesized via precipitation polymerization technique and were characterized using different characterization methods A computational approach was adopted to help in the choice of the monomer used in the fabrication process. The Fe₃O₄@MIPs NPs possessed a highly improved imprinting efficiency, fast adsorption kinetics following 2nd order kinetics and good adsorption capacity of 1.0 mg/g. The presented MMI-SPE provided the optimum approach in comparison to other reported ones to achieve good extraction recovery and matrix effect of trace levels of 6-MP and TG from plasma. Chromatographic separation was carried out using a validated LC-MS/MS assay and recovery, matrix effect and process efficiency were evaluated. Recovery of 6-MP and TG was in the range of 85.94-103.03%, while, matrix effect showed a mean percentage recovery of 85.94-97.62% and process efficiency of 85.54-96.18%. The proposed extraction technique is simple, effective and can be applicable to the extraction and analysis of other pharmaceutical compounds in complex matrices for therapeutic drug monitoring applications.

Computer-aided design of magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles for solid-phase extraction and determination of levetiracetam in human plasma

Analytical methods should be accurate and specific to measure plasma drug concentration. Nevertheless, current sample preparation techniques suffer from limitations, including matrix interference and intensive sample preparation. In this study, a novel technique was proposed for the synthesis of a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) on magnetic Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (NPs) with uniform core–shell structure. The Fe₃O₄@MIPs NPs were then applied to separate and enrich an antiepileptic drug, levetiracetam, from human plasma. A computational approach was developed to screen the functional monomers and polymerization solvents to provide a suitable design for the synthesized MIP. Different analysis techniques and re-binding experiments were performed to characterize the Fe₃O₄@MIP NPs, as well as to identify optimal conditions for the extraction process. Adsorption isotherms were best fitted to the Langmuir model and adsorption kinetics were modeled with pseudo-second-order kinetics. The Fe₃O₄@MIP NPs showed reasonable adsorption capacity and improved imprinting efficiency. A validated colorimetric assay was introduced as a comparable method to a validated HPLC assay for the quantitation of levetiracetam in plasma in the range of 10–80 μg mL⁻¹ after extraction. The results from the HPLC and colorimetric assays showed good precision (between 1.08% and 9.87%) and recoveries (between 94% and 106%) using the Fe₃O₄@MIP NPs. The limit of detection and limit of quantification were estimated to be 2.58 μg mL⁻¹ and 7.81 μg mL⁻¹, respectively for HPLC assay and 2.32 μg mL⁻¹ and 7.02 μg mL⁻¹, respectively for colorimetric assay. It is believed that synthesized Fe₃O₄@MIP NPs as a sample clean-up technique combined with the proposed assays can be used for determination of levetiracetam in plasma.

A novel molecularly imprinted polymer on Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles was applied to extract antiepileptic drug; levetiracetam from plasma for TDM purposes.

DFT computations on the hydrogen bonding interactions between methacrylic acid-trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate copolymers and letrozole as drug delivery systems

The hydrogen bonding interactions between letrozole (Let) anticancer drug and three copolymers of methacrylic acid-trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (M1–M3 as molecular imprinted polymers) were studied using density functional theory (DFT) at both B3LYP and B3PW91 levels. The binding energies were corrected for the basis set superposition error (BSSE) and zero-point vibrational energies (ZPVE) so that the most negative [Formula: see text] were measured for compounds 7 and 8 formed between M1 copolymer and endocyclic N1 and N2 atoms of drug, respectively. Also, among complexes 13–15 in which two copolymers were contributed in the formation of O–H[Formula: see text]N bonds with the drug, compound 13 (containing two M1 copolymers) showed the highest [Formula: see text] value. The interactions of all copolymers with drug were exergonic (spontaneous interaction) and exothermic. The QTAIM data supported the covalent character of the C–N, C–H, N–N, C–O, O–H and O–H[Formula: see text]N bonds, the intermediate nature of C[Formula: see text]N and C[Formula: see text]O bonds while the electrostatic character of C–H[Formula: see text]O, HC[Formula: see text]HC and CH[Formula: see text]N interactions. According to the [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] values, it was suggested that t complexes 7 and 8 (among two particles systems) as well as complex 13 (among three particles systems) can be the most promising drug delivery systems.

Preparation and characterization of molecularly imprinted poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) microspheres for sustained release of gatifloxacin

Molecularly imprinted poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) microspheres (PHEMA MIPMs) were prepared via precipitation polymerization in this article, using gatifloxacin (GFLX), hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as template molecule, functional monomer and cross-linker, respectively. The effects of reaction medium, initial total monomers, cross-linker and molecular imprinting on the polymerization were investigated systematically. The interaction between GFLX and HEMA in pre-solution was studied by UV-Visible spectrophotometer, both size and morphology of products were characterized by a scanning electron microscope. When the total initial monomer concentration was 1 vol%, EGDMA content was 70 mol%, a group of uniform PHEMA MIPMs were prepared at different GFLX/MAA molar ratios, with diameter range from 2.06 ± 0.07 to 2.82 ± 0.20 μm. The results of drug loading and in vitro release experiments demonstrated that PHEMA MIPMs could achieve a higher GFLX loading content and a more acceptable sustained release than non-imprinted ones.

Preparation of N,N-p-phenylene bismethacryl amide as a novel cross-link agent for synthesis and characterization of the core-shell magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles

Novel magnetic molecularly imprinted nanoparticles (MMIPs) using N,N-p-phenylene bismethacryl amide as a cross linker and super paramagnetic core-shell nanoparticle as a supporter for use in controlled release were prepared by precipitation polymerization. Novel cross-linking agents were synthesized by the reaction of methacryloyl chloride with p-phenylenediamine. Then, the Fe3O4 nanoparticles were encapsulated with a SiO2 shell and functionalized with -CH=CH2 and MMIPs were further prepared by using methacrylic acid as a functional monomer, N,N-p-phenylene bismethacryl amide as a cross-linking agent and betamethasone as template. Magnetic non-MIPs were also prepared with the same synthesis procedure as with MMIPs only without the presence of the template. The obtained MMIPs were characterized by using transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectrum, X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and the vibrating sample magnetometer. The performance of the MMIPs for the controlled release of betamethasone was assessed and results indicated that the magnetic MIPs also had potential applications in drug controlled release.

Synthesis and characterization of the magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles using N, N-bis methacryloyl ethylenediamine as a new cross-linking agent for controlled release of meloxicam

The novel magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (MMIPs) had been synthesized using N,N-bis methacryloyl ethylenediamine as a cross-linker for the controlled release of meloxicam at a pH of 1.0 (simulated gastric fluid), at a pH of 6.8 (simulated intestinal fluid) and at a pH of 7.4 (simulated biological fluids). The MMIPs were prepared via precipitation polymerization, using Fe3O4 as a magnetic component, meloxicam as a template molecule, methacrylic acid (MAA) as a functional monomer and N,N-bis methacryloyl ethylenediamine as a new cross-linker in acetonitrile/dimethyl sulfoxide porogen. Magnetic non-molecularly imprinted polymers (MNIPs) were also prepared with the same synthesis procedure as with MMIPs only without the presence of the template. The obtained MMIPs were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The performance of the MMIPs for the controlled release of meloxicam was assessed, and the results indicated that the magnetic MIPs also had potential applications in drug controlled release.