Extraction and purification of penicillin G from fermentation broth by water-compatible molecularly imprinted polymers

Highly selective molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was synthesized by using methacrylic acid as functional monomer, trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate as cross-linker, chloroform as porogen and penicillin G potassium as template molecule. These imprinted polymers were used as solid-phase extraction sorbent for the selective extraction of penicillin G from the fermentation broth samples. Various parameters affecting the extraction efficiency of the MIP particles such as; effects of pH, wash and eluent solutions were evaluated. Molecular recognition properties and selectivity of these MIPs were estimated and the obtained results revealed high affinity for the target antibiotic. Equilibrium binding experiments were done to assess the performance of the MIP relative to non imprinted polymer (NIP). After optimizing the extraction parameters in molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MISPE), successful imprinting was confirmed by comparison of the recoveries from the fermentation broth, ranging between 24–26% (RSD 4.1–4.5%, n = 4) for the NIPs and 83–88% (RSD 3.1–3.4%, n = 4) for the MIPs.