Fluorogenic molecularly imprinted polymers with double recognition abilities synthesized via click chemistry.

This paper reports a new strategy for the preparation of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) based composite materials with double recognition abilities through the exploitation of click chemistry. Combining the inherent molecular recognition ability of MIPs and the affinity binding ability of boronic acid ligands for saccharides, a boronic acid-attached MIP with double recognition abilities was prepared. An alkyne modified 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) imprinted polymer was first synthesized using a two-stage precipitation polymerization. An azide-contained boronic acid was then linked to the clickable 2,4-D imprinted polymers through copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC). The boronic acid-attached MIPs displayed recognition ability for 2,4-D and affinity binding ability for saccharides at physiological pH. The intensity of fluorescence emission of the boronic acid-attached MIPs was found to increase when increasing amounts of a cis-diol compound (i.e., fructose) were added.