Efficient alkaloid capture from water using a charged porous organic polymer.

Berberine hydrochloride (BH), an important alkaloid, can be captured from water and released in organic solution circularly by a charged porous polymer (TPB-HCP), which is hypercross-linked using the cost-effective Friedel-Crafts reaction using sodium tetraphenylborate as the monomer. With high BET surface area, hierarchical porous structure and charged characteristics, TPB-HCP displays excellent adsorption capacity for BH owing to the synergistic effects of size matching and electrostatic interaction.