In this paper, thin films of titanium oxide imprinted with 0,0-dimethyl-(2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetoxyl)(3'-nitrobenyl) methinephosphonate (Phi-NO2) were prepared via liquid phase deposition (LPD) method on a glassy carbon electrode. The imprinted molecular in the films was removed by treatment with immersion in CH2Cl2. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electrochemical methods were introduced to show the evidence of the molecular imprinting phenomenon. It was also found that the recognition ability of the sensor depended on the substituents associated with tridimensional structures of the nitro-compounds. Under the optimized condition, the sensor showed better sensitivity, selectivity and reproducibility to the imprinted molecule and the linear relationship between the current and the concentration of analyte in the range of 0.1-50 mu M was obtained. LPD proved to be a powerful method for imprinting titanium oxide thin sense films. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.