Abstract

A simple, rapid and sensitive electrochemical method using a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) based on the
electropolymerisation of pyrrole (Py) was developed for the determination of 2-isopropoxyphenol (IPP) in model
and real samples. The electrochemical behavior of IPP was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential
pulse voltammetry (DPV) on bare glassy carbon (GC) electrodes in a Britton-Robinson buffer (pH, 2)
solution. IPP exhibited a quasi-reversible behavior on a GC electrode. An anodic peak for IPP showed good
linearity over a concentration range from 0.21 to 75 μM (r2 = 0.999) with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.21 μM
in DPV. For the theoretical design of the MIP, to screen suitable functional monomers and to optimize monomertemplate
mole ratio, a computational approach was followed using density functional (B3LYP) and SemiEmpirical
Parameterized Model number 3 (PM3) models. Pyrrole monomers in the presence of IPP template
were electrochemically polymerized using CV on the working electrode. The sensor exhibited an oxidation peak
at 0.737 V and an excellent linearity (r2 = 0.9969) toward increasing concentration of the template over the
range 0.09–45 μM with a LOD of 0.09 μM. Intra- and inter-day assay precisions, expressed as %RSD, were overall
less than 8.67% for both methods. The result of the selectivity experiment showed that the imprinted sensor has
a good response and selectivity toward IPP. The developed sensors were successfully applied for the determination
of IPP in real samples recovered from in vitro metabolism of Propoxur (PPX).