Sample Preparation via Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) in LC‐MS Bioanalysis

In recent years, great developments in analytical instrumentation have been produced, allowing the determination of any compound in a great variety of samples. Typically, target analytes are determined by chromatographic techniques coupled to common detectors or, more recently, mass spectrometry (MS) or tandem MS. However, even when using the selective detection provided by MS, direct injections of crude sample extracts are not recommended since matrix components can inhibit or enhance the analyte ionization, hampering accurate quantification. At this regard, the improvement of the selectivity during extraction and/or subsequent clean-up of sample extracts is an area of intense research activity. One of the most versatile and promising alternative is the incorporation of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) in sample preparation. MIPs are tailor-made stable polymers with molecular recognition abilities and thus are excellent materials to provide selectivity to sample preparation. Accordingly, in this chapter, the use of MIPs sample preparation in bioanalysis, including solid-phase extraction as well as its recent incorporation to other extraction techniques, is described.