Molecular imprinting.

Molecular imprinting is an emerging methodology for the creation of selective recognition sites in synthetic polymers. This technique entails the polymerization of functional monomers in the presence of an important molecule (template). Recent studies have shown that the polymers obtained exhibit a surprisingly high degree of stereo- and regiospecific selectivity, making the commercial use of such tailor-made separation materials in several areas, such as the chiral separation of bioactive molecules and as antibody mimics, a realistic possibility.