A molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP), with special molecule recognition properties of ciprofloxacin (CIP), was prepared by thermal polymerization in which ciprofloxacin acted as template molecule, a-methacrylic acid (MAA) acted as functional monomer and trimethylolpropane trimethylacrylate (TRIM) acted as crosslinker. The optimized ratio was determined to be n(CIP): n (MMA):n(TRIM) 5 1:6:16 by investigation of the effects of different concentrations of functional monomer and the crosslinker on the MIP's recognition properties. Equilibrium binding experiment was used to investigate the adsorption dynamics, the binding ability to template molecule and the substrate selectivity. Scatchard analysis was used to study the MIP's binding characteristic to template molecule. The results indicated that MIP has higher adsorption ability and selectivity. The equilibrium distribution coefficient K D was 41.64 and the separation factor a was 1.62. Scatchard analysis showed that two different kinds of binding sites were produced in the polymer matrix and their dissociation constants were calculated to be K d 1 5 5.249 6 10 2 5 mol?L 2 1 , K d 2 5 2.237 6 10 23 mol?L 21 .Molecular imprinting technology (MIT) refers to the preparation of a polymer with special recognition properties of a specific target molecule (template molecule, imprinted molecule) [1]. Wulff [2] gave the first report of a synthetic molecularly imprinted polymer in 1972, and Mosbach [3] issued a molecularly imprinted polymer of theophylline which was prepared under the intermolecular interaction principle in Nature in 1993. Since then the molecular imprinting technique started to develop flourishingly. Molecularly imprinted polymers prepared through MIT have many characteristics, such as high affinity and selectivity, strong ability in an anti-adverse environment, good stability, long service life, wide application range and so on; they have been used in many fields, including chromatographic analysis [4,5], solid phase extraction [6,7], biosensors [8,9], membrane technology [10,11] and so on.Quinolones (QNs), which have undergone rapid development in the past 20 years, are a kind of important broad-spectrum antibiotics. They are used extensively for treatment, prevention and growth promotion [12]. As one of the most representative third-generation quinolones, ciprofloxacin has excellent antibacterial activity. Thus far, cyclopropyl has been considered as the best 1-substituent. This change in structure is significant in the history of the development of quinolone antibiotics [13]. Close attention has been widely paid to the residue problem, such as drug resistance of pathogenic bacteria and potential carcinogenicity of some quinolones [12][13][14], but it is difficult to analyze the residue of QNs accurately due to severe matrix interferences and low levels of drug residue. The authors wish, through this paper, to achieve the elimination of matrix interference and establish effective purification by using MIP with special recognition properties. Caro and Mar...