Is Chromatographic Efficiency Possible Using Molecularly Imprinted Stationary Phases?

Molecularly imprinted polymers are prepared in the presence of a template. They have been shown to resolve enantiomers when used as stationary phases for liquid chromatography. However, the separation efficiency is not as good as that observed with silica stationary phases. This manuscript identifies the main problems as the slow transfer kinetics between the mobile and stationary phase and the heterogeneity of the stationary phase binding sites. It suggests that preparing templated polymers that have predominantly or exclusively noncovalent crosslinks is the most promising approach for improving efficiency.