ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Binary functional monomers, allyl-ß-cyclodextrin (allyl-ß-CD) and methacrylic acid (MAA) or allyl-ß-CD and acrylonitrile (AN), were exploited in a fabrication of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for selective recognition and large enrichment of pirimicarb from aqueous media. RESULTS: Special attention was paid to the computational simulation of the imprinting molecular and functional monomers. The morphological characteristics of MIPs made of allyl-ß-CD and MAA (M-MAA) were characterised by scanning electron microscopy. The effect of binding capacity of MAA-linked allyl-ß-CD MIPs (M-MAA) demonstrated higher efficiency than that of AN-linked allyl-ß-CD MIPs (M-AN) when tested in binding specificity. Finally, M-MAA was chosen to run through molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MISPE) to analyse the spiked fresh leafy vegetables of pirimicarb. CONCLUSION: The present proposed technique is a promising tool for the preparation of the receptors which could recognise pirimicarb pesticide in aqueous media. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.