Recyclable molecularly imprinted polymers based on Fe3O4@SiO2 and PAMAM dendrimers for the determination of myosmine in cigarettes

A selective method for the determination of myosmine (a tobacco alkaloid) was developed using molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) based on Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 and PAMAM dendrimers. Fe 3 O 4 @SiO 2 with excellent magnetism and rapid separation performance was chosen as carrier for the MIPs. Moreover, the MIPs modified with PAMAM dendrimers exhibited a regular structure and abundant functional groups, which improve the efficiency of imprinting sites. The myosmine concentration was measured by HPLC with PDA detector, and the UV detection wavelength was set to 200 nm. The linear range of this assay was 13.2–400 mg/L with a correlation coefficient of 0.999, and the detection limit was 4.0 mg/L (S/N = 3). The MIPs have been used for the determination of myosmine in cigarettes, and the recovery range was 84.2–93.5%, with RSD values in the range 0.41–3.1%. In conclusion, our MIPs combine advantages of simple preparation and remarkable selectivity, which gives them excellent application prospects for the sensitive determination of trace myosmine in tobacco products. Graphical abstract