Determination of degradation products of nerve agents in human serum by solid phase extraction using molecularly imprinted polymer

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for pinacolyl methylphosphonate, ethyl methylphosphonate and methane phosphonic acid were prepared. By taking the advantage of their cross selectivity, the MIPs could recognize not only the print molecule, but also the degradation products of the other nerve agents. The absorbed degradation products could be quantitatively extracted using distilled water. The pinacolyl methylphosphonate-imprinted polymer was used as a solid phase extraction sorbent for all possible degradation products of nerve agents from human serum. Following the solid phase extraction procedure, accurate analysis for the degradation products was carried out using capillary electrophoresis directly. A detection limit of 0.1 μg/ml and an R.S.D. of r >0.99, n =4) in the concentration range of 0.1–10 μg/ml was also obtained.