Highly selective bisphenol A—imprinted polymers prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization

Polymers molecularly imprinted toward bisphenol A (BPA-MIPs) were prepared by reverse atom transfer radical polymerization (reverse ATRP). For covalent bond-based BPA imprinting, a new template molecule, BPA di(4-vinyl benzoate), was synthesized and co-polymerized with divinylbenzene and styrene. Compared with conventional radical polymerization-based BPA-MIPs, the selectivities of the ATRP-based BPA-MIPs appear to be enhanced, suggesting that reverse ATRP could provide homogeneously cross-linked polymers and elaborate BPA recognition cavities in MIPs with size- and shape-selectivity.