Selective sorbents for solid-phase extraction based on molecularly imprinted polymers

Highly selective sorbents for solid-phase extraction (SPE) are desirable tools for the development of selective and sensitive methods for trace analysis. Molecular imprinting is an emerging technique that can yield analyte- or group-selective polymeric sorbents. Guest authors Ensing and Berggren and column editor Majors discuss the basic principles of molecular imprinting and compare the technique with conventional sorbent and immunoaffinity-based SPE. They use real-life examples to illustrate the potential of molecularly imprinted polymer-based SPE.