Molecularly imprinted polymers: compromise between flexibility and rigidity for improving capture of template analogues

New synthesis strategies of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) were developed in order to mimic the
flexibility and mobility exhibited by receptor/enzyme binding pockets. The MIPs were prepared through
bulk polymerization by using quercetin as template molecule, acrylamide (AA) as functional monomer
and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EDMA) as cross-linker with tetrahydrofuran (THF) as porogen. The
10 innovative grafting of polyethylene glycol (PEG) moieties on the imprinted cavities allowed obtaining
MIPs which exhibit cross-reactivities towards a group of structural analogs instead of an absolute
specificity for the template. This synthesis strategy could be applied to design molecular recognition for
molecules based on a congruent pharmacophore and therefore appears as a highly promising tool for drug
discovery.