A novel core-shell molecularly imprinting microspheres (MIMs) with trans-resveratrol as the template molecule; acrylamide ( AA) as functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate ( EGDMA) as cross-linker, was prepared based on SiO2 microspheres with surface imprinting technique. These core shell trans-resveratrol imprinted microspheres were characterized by infrared spectra (IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and high performance liquid chromatography ( HPLC). The results showed that these core-shell imprinted microspheres, which take on perfect spherical shape with average shell thickness of 150 nm, exhibit especially selective recognition for trans-resveratrol. These imprinted microspheres were applied as solid-phase extraction materials for selective extraction of trans-resveratrol from giant knotweed extracting solution successfully. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.