Bio-based polymers for the purification of high commercial value chemicals extracted from plants, food waste, and non-food biomass

A process for separating phenolic acids, comprising:

• a) contacting a feed containing at least two different phenolic acids (PAs) with an extraction solvent to extract the at least two different phenolic acids in a first PA containing liquid;
• b) contacting the first PA containing liquid with a solid molecular imprinted polymer (MIP), such that the MIP captures a target phenolic acid from the at least two different phenolic acids, to thereby form a first phenolic acid bound MIP dispersed in a second PA containing liquid, wherein the second PA containing liquid comprises at least one phenolic acid and none or a substantially lesser amount of the target phenolic acid originally present in the first PA containing liquid;
• c) separating the first phenolic acid bound MIP from the second PA containing liquid;
• d) separating the target phenolic acid from the first phenolic acid bound MIP to obtain a recovered MIP, wherein the recovered MIP is substantially free of the target phenolic acid;
• e) optionally repeating the steps b) to d) to extract remaining phenolic acid(s) of the at least two phenolic acids.