A group of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) with specific recognition for chiral (S)-ibuprofen were successfully prepared based on hydrogen bonds, utilizing α-methacrylic acid as a functional monomer. The IR analysis of MIPs showed that the blue- and red-shifted hydrogen bonds were formed between templates and functional monomers in the process of self-assembly imprinting and re-recognition, respectively. According to UV-Vis analysis, we found that the ratio of host-guest complexes between template molecule and functional monomer was 1:1. The effect of crosslinker's quantity on the polymerization was studied by transmission electron microscope (TEM). The adsorption selectivity experiments indicated that MIPs exhibited higher selectivity to (S)-ibuprofen than those to ketoprofen and (R)-ibuprofen, (S)-ibuprofen's structural analogs.

Keywords: (S)-ibuprofen; molecularly imprinted polymer; chiral separation; hydrogen bond; separation factor.