Preparation and characterization of polymer microspheres which have specific binding ability for saccharide molecules

A polymer microsphere having phenylboronic acid sites on its surface was prepared by emulsion polymerization of styrene, butyl acrylate, and m-acrylamidophenylboronic acid. In the process of the preparation, the microsphere was swollen in an alkaline aqueous suspension by adding methylethylketone so that phenylboronic acid sites in the resin would migrate out to the aqueous-organic interface in their ionized forms. The microsphere was confirmed to have dimensions of submicron and assume a neat spherical shape. It was able to be immediately used as saccharide-selective adsorbent without any further treatment, such as grinding and sieving. D-Glucose was bound onto the microsphere while 1-methyl-alpha-D-glucoside was not, due to their different molecular structures. The adsorption of D-glucose was performed by complex (ester) formation between phenylboronic acid moiety and cis-diol group of D-glucose.