Coatings of molecularly imprinted polymers based on polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane for open tubular capillary electrochromatography.

Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) was successfully applied, for the first time, to prepare imprinted monolithic coating for capillary electrochromatography. The imprinted monolithic coating was synthesized with a mixture of PSS-(1-Propylmethacrylate)-heptaisobutyl substituted (MA 0702), S-amlodipine (template), methacrylic acid (functional monomer), and 2-methacrylamidopropyl methacrylate (crosslinker), in a porogenic mixture of toluene-isooctane. The influence of synthesis parameters on the imprinting effect and separation performance, including the amount of MA 0702, the ratio of template to monomer, and the ratio of monomer to crosslinker, was investigated. The greatest resolution for enantiomers separation on the imprinted monolithic column prepared with MA 0702 was up to 22.3, about 2 times higher than that prepared in absence of the POSS. Column efficiency on the POSS-based MIP coatings was beyond 30,000 plate m(-1). The comparisons between MIP coating synthesized with the POSS and without the POSS were made in terms of selectivity, column efficiency, and resolution. POSS-based MIP capillaries with naproxen or zopiclone was also prepared and separation of enantiomers can be achieved.