Progress in Development of Molecularly Imprinted Polymers as Sorbents for Sample Preparation

Sample preparation has been one of the most often investigated steps in analytical procedures. These investigations are focused on problems such as isolation of analytes from the sample matrix, matrix simplification, analyte enrichment to the level above the detection limit of the instrumentation used, and the removal of interfering species to improve the final determination. Techniques based on solid (adsorption) and pseudo liquid (absorption) media play an important role in sample preparation because of their universal applicability, possibility of automation and low cost of implementation. The use of these techniques reduces or even completely eliminates organic solvents from analytical procedures.Solid phase extraction (SPE) and its special mode, solid phase micro-extraction (SPME), are among most commonly used sample preparation techniques. The search for novel sorbents characterized by their unique sorption properties aims at expanding the applicability of SPE and SPME. One of such novel groups of sorbents are molecularly imprinted polymers—MIPs. The purpose of this paper is to review recent publications on synthesis and applications of MIPs as well the procedures used to study MIPs.