Boronate affinity-modified magnetic β-cyclodextrin polymer for selective separation and adsorption of shikimic acid

Polymer of cyclodextrin (CD) is still of great sustainable interest in the scientific research attributing to its excellent physicochemical properties. Owing to its water solubility and superior binding capacity, CD is usually modified through various strategies to exploit its application area. Herein, for the first time, magnetic β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) polymer is endowed with boronate affinity property via mild chemical modifications to specifically separate natural drug raw material shikimic acid (SA). The uniform morphology, magnetic response ability and composition analysis of the porous adsorbent were highly supported by the characterizations. The capture process towards SA depending on the pH value is explored in detail by adsorption kinetics, equilibrium, selectivity and reusability. It is found that specific recognition sites decorated on the surface of magnetic β-CD provides strength support for selective adsorption and separation of shikimic acid. The prepared adsorbent shows high adsorption quantity (Q, mg g⁻¹) of 31.60 mg g⁻¹ at 25 °C, high specific recognition and good adsorption capacity (above 83.7%) and stability after five cycles. This study gives a new sight on the utilization of porous β-CD-based material by grafting functional boric acid group for specific capture of natural cis-diol-containing compounds.