Molecularly imprinted nanoparticles as tailor-made sensors for small fluorescent molecules.

Water-soluble nanoparticles molecularly imprinted against naphthyl derivatives could bind the templates with high affinity and excellent selectivity among structural analogues in aqueous solution. Fluorescent dansyl groups installed during template polymerization allowed these nanoparticles to detect the presence of the target analytes by Förster resonance energy transfer.