Electrochemical Sensors Based on Molecularly Imprinted Polymers for Pharmaceuticals Analysis

<P>Background: The electrochemical sensing of drugs in pharmaceutical formulations and biological matrices using molecular-imprinting polymer (MIP) as a recognition element combined with different electrochemical signal transduction has been widely developed. The MIP electrochemical sensors based on nanomaterials such as graphene, carbon nanotubes, nanoparticles, as well as other electrode modifiers incorporated into the MIPs to enhance the performance of the sensor, have been discussed. The recent advances in enantioselective sensing using MIP-based electrochemical sensors have been described. </P><P> Methods: The molecular imprinting has more than six decades of history. MIPs were introduced in electrochemistry only in the 1990s by Mosbach and coworkers. This review covers recent literature published a few years ago. The future outlook for sensing, miniaturization and development of portable devices for multi-analyte detection of the target analytes was also given. </P><P> Results: The growing pharmaceutical interest in molecularly imprinted polymers is probably a direct consequence of its major advantages over other analytical techniques, namely, increased selectivity and sensitivity of the method. Due to the complexity of biological samples and the trace levels of drugs in biological samples, molecularly imprinted polymers have been used to improve the response signal, increase the sensitivity, and decrease the detection limit of the sensors. The emergence of nanomaterials opened a new horizon in designing integrated electrochemical systems. The success of obtaining a high-performance electrochemical sensor based on MIPs lies in the kind of material that builds up the detection platform. </P><P> Conclusion: The novel approaches to produce MIP materials, combined with electrochemical transduction to develop sensors for screening different pharmaceutically active compounds have been overviewed. MIPs may appear indispensable for sensing in harsh conditions, or sensing that requires longterm stability unachievable by biological receptors. The electrochemical sensors provide several benefits including low costs, shortening analysis time, simple design; portability; miniaturization, easy-touse, can be tailored using a simple procedure for particular applications. The performance of sensor can be improved by incorporating some conductive nanomaterials as AuNPs, CNTs, graphene, nanowires and magnetic nanoparticles in the polymeric matrix of MIP-based sensors. The application of new electrochemical sensing scaffolds based on novel multifunctional-MIPs is expected to be widely developed and used in the future.</P>