Zhaosheng Liu (editor) - Molecularly Imprinted Polymers as Advanced Drug Delivery Systems: Synthesis, Character and Application

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The aim of the present book is to bring into focus an attractive research area of molecular imprinting in drug delivery systems. Comprising a diverse group of experts from prestigious universities, the contributors to this book provide access to the latest knowledge and eye-catching achievements in the field and an understanding of what progress has been made and to what extent it is being advanced in current research status. The book provides an in-depth review of the general principles of molecular imprinting technology, preparation process, basic characteristics, and the current research status in drug delivery systems. The use of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) in drug delivery systems allows devising important materials with technical details, including enantioselective MIPs, water-compatible MIPs, and MIPs that specifically respond to specific environmental stimuli. In addition, the use of MIPs for transdermal drug delivery, anticancer preparations and ophthalmic drug delivery, release mechanism, in vivo and in vitro bioavailability evaluation, and future development trends are also discussed. It serves as an important reference for scientists, students, and researchers who are working in the areas of molecular imprinting, drug delivery systems, molecular recognition, materials science, biotechnology, and nanotechnology.

MIPs are typical artificial molecular recognition systems, which can be used for specific recognition of target molecules [] to inspire scientists to translate them into practical applications.

However, the limited knowledge became the main barrier for developing the new technology [].

In 1972, Wullfs group prepared covalent molecular imprinting polymers (MIPs) successfully for the first time, which has made a great breakthrough in the field of imprinting technology []. As a result, progress in this period was relatively slow.

A decade later, the non-covalent imprinting molecules were developed in the 1880s. As long as some kind of non-covalent interactions between functional monomer and template exist, such as hydrogen bond, hydrophobic force, van der Waals force, etc. the imprinting molecular can be formed. Furthermore, the template can be easily removed by simple extraction after the polymerization [].

In 1995, a new approach hybridized covalent imprinting and non-covalent imprinting was developed to introduce the recognition site functionality into polymers, which combined the advantages of clear-cut nature in the covalent imprinting and fast guest binding in the non-covalent imprinting. The polymers displayed characteristics similar to a true biological receptor or synthetic host for cholesterol [].

Molecular imprinting technology has evolved a great deal of extensive application to the synthesis of organic and hybrid MIPs with the characteristic of antibodies or enzymes [].

Fig. 1.1

Different routes of molecular cavity formation in a molecularly imprinted polymer. (Reproduced with permission of Ref. [])

MIPs can be produced by covalent or non covalent combination of template and functional monomer. Covalent imprinting, a typical method, ensures that functional monomer residues exist only in the imprinted cavities. The Ketals/acetals, Schiffs base and boronate esters are often used in the covalent imprinting []. This method provided an intermediate choice, namely, the template bonded to the functional monomer covalently, but the recombination of template was based on non-covalent interaction. In addition, coordination chemistry can be used to prepare MIPs. Metal ion can form a part of complex that was bound to an imprint cavity covalently and participated in target recognition through metalligand bonding interactions, or acted as an ionic template to create an imprint cavity that can interact with an appropriate target metal ion. This method was easy to tailor according to the specific requirements because the selection of the metal and its ligands was wide.