Optical resolution of phenylalanine using D ‐Phe‐imprinted poly(acrylic acid‐ co ‐acrylonitrile) membrane—Racemate solution concentration effect

Abstract A novel nanoporous molecularly imprinting copolymer [Poly(acrylic acid‐ co ‐acrylonitrile)] membrane (DICMI) has been synthesized by the wet phase inversion method, using D ‐Phenylalanine as template, for the optical resolution of amino acid. The membrane prepared is intended for the selective separation of phenylalanine. The racemate solutions of different concentrations (10‐ppm, 50‐ppm, 100‐ppm, and 200‐ppm) were filtered through the membrane fixed in an ultrafiltration kit at 98 kPa pressure to investigate the concentration effect on optical resolution of amino acid using DICMI. Adsorption selectivities of 0.37, 0.45, 0.57, and 0.71 were achieved after 25 ml of filtration of 10‐ppm, 50‐ppm, 100‐ppm, and 200‐ppm racemate solutions respectively. Scanning electron microscopy was used to study the morphological structure of membrane. Chemical structure was studied by Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy. POLYM. COMPOS., 2008. © 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers