Abstract: Contribution of the synthesis parameters to the properties of the polymer is one of the major interests in the study of molecular imprinting technology. To have a better understanding of the influence of polymerization conditions on the polymer morphology and binding property, (-)-ephedrine imprinted polymers synthesized with different cross-linkers (ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EDMA) and pentaerythritol triacrylate (PETRA)), porogens (chloroform and acetonitrile) and monomer concentrations were compared. The resulting polymers were characterized with their pore structure, texture and binding affinities by BET and equilibrium adsorption method. The selectivity of the polymer was evaluated with chromatographic analysis. The results suggested that CHCl3 is a good solvent for methacrylic acid (MAA)-EDMA and MAA-PETRA polymer chains which resulted in smaller polymer surface area. Quantitative determinations of the carboxyl groups in the polymer indicated that polymers synthesized with the same pre-polymerization composition except porogen can have different concentrations of functional monomer in their structures. The study showed that porogen in the molecular imprinting synthesis can affect the morphology and composition of the polymers, which influence the binding affinity of the polymers.

Key words: (-)-ephedrine , binding property, morphology, synthesis conditions, molecularly imprinted polymers