Enantioselective Uptake of Amino Acids with Molecularly Imprinted Overoxidized Polypyrrole

Abstract

In this article, we review the reports on overoxidized polypyrrole films and colloidal polymeric forms that have high selectivity towards amino acid enantiomer. A novel molecular imprinting technique, developed in our laboratory, has greater advantages over previously reported techniques with respect to enantioselectivity and with straightforwardness in synthetic schemes. In this technique, preparation of a polypyrrole film is carried out electrochemically on a metallic or carbon electrode with one of the enantiomers of glutamate as a dopant, followed by overoxidation of the film to remove the dopant, thus creating the shape complementary cavities. The target amino acid enantiomer is taken up and released by applying the potential to the overoxidized polypyrrole film. This technique has also been applied to other polymeric forms, such as colloidal particle.