Molecular imprinted core-shell colloidal polymer particles have been prepared in which the shells were formed, in aqueous media, in the presence of organic templates. The most selective system involved the use of an unsaturated alkyl phosphate as the electrostatic binding motif. Systems that were able to selectively differentiate between caffeine and theophylline and the Gly-Gly sequence in tripeptides are described. Radio-tracing experiments showed that all of the caffeine template could be removed following extraction.