Affinity monolith chromatography.

The combined use of monolithic supports with selective affinity ligands as stationary phases has recently given rise to a new method known as affinity monolith chromatography (AMC). This review will discuss the basic principles behind AMC and examine the types of supports and ligands that have been employed in this method. Approaches for placing affinity ligands in monoliths will be considered, including methods based on covalent immobilization, biospecific adsorption, entrapment, and the formation of coordination complexes. Several reported applications will then be presented, such as the use of AMC for bioaffinity chromatography, immunoaffinity chromatography, immobilized metal-ion affinity chromatography, dye-ligand affinity chromatography, and biomimetic chromatography. Other applications that will be discussed are chiral separations and studies of biological interactions based on AMC.