Solid-phase extraction of catechins from green tea with deep eutectic solvent immobilized magnetic molybdenum disulfide molecularly imprinted polymer

Abstract

A type of molecular-imprinted polymer with magnetic molybdenum disulfide as a base and deep eutectic solvent as a functional monomer (Fe3O4@MoS2@DES-MIP) was prepared with surface molecular imprinting method. It was applied as the adsorbent for the selective recognition and separation of (+)-catechin, (−)-epicatechin, (−)-epigallocatechin, (−)-epicatechin gallate, and (−)-epigallocatechin gallate in green tea in the process of magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) combined with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The structure of Fe3O4@MoS2@DES-MIP was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy. The adsorption properties and selective recognition ability on (−)-epigallocatechin gallate and the other four structural analogues were examined and compared. The results show that the polymer has excellent selective recognition ability for (−)-epigallocatechin gallate, and its adsorption capacity was much higher than that of structural analogues. The Fe3O4@MoS2@DES-MIP not only has the special recognition ability to template a molecule, but also can be separated by magnets with high separation efficiency and can be used in MSPE.