Molecular imprinting of biologically active steroidal systems

The number of publications that describe the development of novel molecular imprinted polymers (MIPs) has risen dramatically in recent years, demonstrating clearly the potential of this molecular recognition driven technique in a variety of separation-based and alternative technologies. This review covers the development of molecular imprinted polymers that have utilised biologically active substrates - in particular steroidal systems, as templates and then details the range of applications of these imprinted resins. The optimisation of molecular imprinting techniques for substrates of this type are described, starting from studies derived from early immunological theories, and concluding with coverage of state-of-the-art methods that are directed towards the next generation of MIPs.