Abstract
A semi-covalent imprinting strategy has been developed for the synthesis of molecularly-imprinted polymers specific for the fungal sterol, ergosterol, a biological precursor of vitamin D2. This imprinting approach involved a novel post-synthesis cleavable monomer-template composite, namely ergosteryl methacrylate, and resulted in the formation of an imprinted polymer that selectively and efficiently recognized ergosterol through non-covalent interactions. The derived molecularly-imprinted polymer and the corresponding non-imprinted polymer were systematically evaluated for their selectivity towards ergosterol via static and dynamic binding studies using various ergosteryl esters (e.g. ergosteryl-cinnamate, -ferulate, -coumarate, -ferulate acetate and -acetate, respectively) as competitors. Moreover, the binding capacity of the molecularly imprinted polymer for ergosterol was enhanced when the sample loading conditions involved the use of partially aqueous solvent mixtures, such as acetonitrile/water (9:1 (v/v) or 8:2 (v/v)). These attributes were exploited in a solid-phase extraction format, whereby ergosterol was obtained with excellent recoveries from an extract of the fruiting body powder of the medicinal fungus Ganoderma tsugae var. Janniae.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1-9 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Journal of Chromatography A |
Volume | 1468 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 14 Oct 2016 |
Keywords
- Ergosterol
- Ergosteryl esters
- Molecularly imprinted polymers
- Semi-covalent molecular imprinting
- Solid-phase extraction
- Sterol competitors
Equipment
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Centre for Electron Microscopy (MCEM)
Peter Miller (Manager)
Office of the Vice-Provost (Research and Research Infrastructure)Facility/equipment: Facility