Figure 1.

Theory behind the molecular imprinting: a pre-polymer solution containing a template (usually the analyte) and a polymerizable functional monomer is required. Under suitable conditions, many monomers surrounding the analyte transform into an artificial coating with the trapped analyte. After removing the template (analyte), specific cavities remain in the polymer matrix, and the size and chemical interactions complement the analyte molecule. During incubation with the analyte in the sample, the analyte binds specifically to the formed MIP (like the “lock and key” analogy). The figure shows the functional monomers most commonly used for electrosynthetic MIP in combination with some corresponding target analytes. The figure was prepared based on the information provided in the text of [4].