Design Molecular Imprinting Polymer Coupled with Solid-phase Extraction for Determination of Pregabalin in Pharmaceutical Formulations

This research demonstrates an efficient method for the synthesis and storage of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) using bulk polymerization of Pregabalin (PGB), which is carried out at room temperature. This method has the advantages of high sensitivity, low cost, increased stability, and longer lifetime of the polymers. The research used specific ratios between template, monomer, and cross-linking agents to ensure suitable adsorption capacity. Benzoyl peroxide (BPO) was used as an initiator for the functional monomer styrene and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) cross-linking to create the MIP of Pregabalin (PGB-MIP). The molecularly imprinted polymer was studied using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-VIS) at 205 nm, a technique used for the detection of pharmaceutical drugs. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were also used to study the structure of the polymer. The elution process applied to the template (PGB) of PGB-MIP showed cavities caused by porous mixture solvents such as methanol, chloroform, and acetic acid. The maximum adsorption capacity of the molecularly imprinted polymer was measured to be 117941.6 (μg/g) when 0.1 g of PGB-MIP was used, which is consistent with the Langmuir isotherm model. The optimal ratio of template to monomer was shown to be 1:1. For practical application, a solid phase extraction (SPE) syringe packed with molecularly imprinted polymers was used to selectively separate and concentrate Pregabalin in multiple source pharmaceutical drugs.