Molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction of matrine from radix Sophorae tonkinensis

Abstract

In the study, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) with special molecular recognition properties of matrine (MAT) were prepared in our lab, using melamine-urea-formaldehyde (MUF) as the functional monomer and matrine as the template. An equilibrium binding experiment was performed to investigate the binding ability of the MIPs, and indicated that the MIPs had a high adsorption and good elution ability to the target molecule MAT, when the template/functional monomer ratio (T/M) was 5 mg g⁻¹. Scatchard analysis and isothermal equilibrium adsorption indicated that only one kind of binding site had existed in the MAT-imprinted polymers with its dissociation constants estimated to be 3.31 × 10⁻⁴ mol L⁻¹ (200–400 mesh (inch⁻¹)) and 6.83 × 10⁻⁴ mol L⁻¹ (over 400 mesh (inch⁻¹)) depending on the mesh of the MIPs. MAT purification and elution experiments were carried out using MIPs as the solid-phase extraction (MISPE) sorbent, and acetone, water, and chloroform as the elution solvents. The results demonstrated that MIPs achieved their highest adsorption capability after treatment with alkaline solution, while acetone was the most efficient elution solvent. Then, a crude extraction of matrine in radix Sophorae tonkinensis was performed using these MIPs as the separation medium. The results showed that MIPs had a high MAT selectivity, and the amount of matrine content obtained by MISPE was 1.4-fold to that obtained by liquid–liquid extraction.