Selective recognition of methotrexate by molecularly imprinted polymers

The aim of this study is the preparation of molecularly imprinted polymers with high selectivity for metotrexate (MTX), a useful antineoplastic drug widely employed in clinical trials. Methacrylic acid, 2-(dimethylamino) ethyl methacrylate and a mixture of them were tested as functional monomers in order to optimize the performance of imprinted materials. The specificity and the selectivity of imprinted polymers was tested by performing rebinding experiments in water at pH 7.4. The best results were obtained by employing both functional monomers in the polymeric feed. In this way, each monomer interacts with complementary functionalities on template molecule, stabilizing the prepolymerization complex and minimizing the repulsive effects (due to the ionization of functional groups) in the rebinding media.