Matrine (MT)- and oxymatrine (OMT)-imprinted monodisperse polymers have been prepared by precipitation polymerization. The prepared molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for MT and OMT, MIP(MT) and MIP(OMT), were monodispersed microspheres of 3.3 and 3.9 μm in diameter, respectively. Binding experiments and Scatchard analyses revealed that two classes of binding sites were formed on MIP(MT) and MIP(OMT). In addition to shape recognition, ionic and hydrophobic interactions seemed to affect the retention and recognition of MT and OMT on MIP(MT) and MIP(OMT), respectively, in low acetonitrile content, and ionic and hydrophilic interactions affected these properties in high acetonitrile content. MIP(MT) was used to selectively extract MT and sophocarpine (13,14-dehydromatrine) from Sophora flavescens root, while MIP(OMT) was used to extract OMT and oxysophocarpine (13,14-dehydrooxymatrine).
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