| Summary: | Styrene is used in a variety of chemical industries. Environmental and occupational exposures
to styrene occur predominantly through inhalation. The major metabolite of styrene is present in two
enantiomeric forms, chiral R- and S- hydroxy-1-phenyl-acetic acid (R-and S-mandelic acid, MA). Thus, the
concentration of MA, particularly of its enantiomers, has been used in urine tests to determine whether
workers have been exposed to styrene.
This study describes a method of analyzing mandelic acid using molecular imprinting techniques and
HPLC detection to perform the separation of diastereoisomers of mandelic acid. The molecularly imprinted
polymer (MIP) was prepared by non-covalent molecular imprinting using (+) MA, (-) MA or (+)
phenylalanine, (-) phenylalanine as templates. Methacrylic acid (MAA) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate
(EGDMA) were copolymerized in the presence of the template molecules. The bulk polymerization was
carried out at 4 o C under UV radiation. The resulting MIP was grounded into 25~441⁄4m particles, which
were slurry packed into analytical columns. After the template molecules were removed, the MIP-packed
columns were found to be effective for the chromatographic resolution of (±)-mandelic acid. This method
is simpler and more convenient than other chromatographic methods.
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