General Principle of Molecular Imprinting

Fig. 1 General principle of molecular imprinting. A molecular template (T) is mixed with functional monomers (M) and a cross-linker (CL) resulting in the formation of a self-assembled complex (1). The polymerization of the resulting system produces a rigid structure bearing imprinted sites (2). Finally removal of the template liberates cavities that can specifically recognize and bind the target molecule (3). Adapted with permission from [3]. Copyright 2003 American Chemical Society...

The types of molecular recognition events involved in the synthesis of a molecular imprinted polymer (MIP) and in the recognition of aligand by an MIP are identical to those observed throughout nature [1]. The general principles underlying the synthesis of mole-cularly imprinted polymers have been outlined in previous chapters (Chapters 3-13). 

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