In the present study, specific binding and controlled release of thiamine hydrochloride (THC) to and from a novel molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) matrix namely, THC-templated-silylated montmorilloniteitaconic acid polymer was investigated. The polymer matrix was characterized by means of XRD, FUR and SEM analyses. Optimization of various imprinting components and binding characteristics of THC by the novel MIP were examined in detail. The binding affinity of THC for MIP was found to be greater than that for non-imprinted polymer (NIP). The maximum binding was found to be at solution pH of 4.5. The Sips isotherm model was found to describe well the equilibrium binding data with maximum binding capacity of 100 mg/g for MIP. The kinetic study revealed that the binding of THC onto MIP follows pseudo-second-order kinetic model with correlation coefficient 0.999. The swelling study of MIP in distilled water showed that the maximum swelling capacity is 329.0 g/g at about 8 h. In vitro release experiments showed that MIP releases drug in intestinal fluid with a controlled manner. The release kinetics of drug from MIP was analyzed using Ritger-Peppas model. The binding specificity of MIP for THC was tested using different substrates having structural analogue to the template, THC. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.