Benzyl chloride

Benzyl chloride (99%, containing propylene oxide as stabilizer), methanol, chloroform, tetrahydrofuran (THF) ( $\ge$ 99.9% HPLC LiChrosol), 2-butanone and toluene were all purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (Buchs, Switzerland). The catalysts [WCl₄(THF)₂], [WCl₄(MeCN)₂], [WBr₂(CO)₃(dme)] and [MoI₂(CO)₃(MeCN)₂] used in this article and displayed in Figure 2 were stored under inert gas atmosphere before use (for synthesis, see Supplementary Materials).

Hafnium(IV) chloride (98%), zirconium(IV)
chloride (≥99.5%), oleic acid (90%), oleylamine (70%), trimethyl
orthoformate (99%), trifluoroacetic acid (99%), acetic acid (≥99%),
dibenzyl ether (98%), and benzyl chloride (99%) are obtained from
Sigma-Aldrich. Benzyl alcohol was purchased either anydrous (99.8%)
or as ReagentPlus (≥99%) from Sigma-Aldrich; the latter was
then vacuum distilled and stored over sieves. Tetrahydrofuran (extra
dry, 99.5%) was purchased from Acros Organics. Hydrochloric acid (≥37%)
was purchased from Chemlab. Tri-n-octylphosphine
oxide (99%) was puchased from Strem chemicals and recrystallized according
to Owen et al.^{81 (link)} Solvents used for synthesis
were purchased from Chemlab or Sigma-Aldrich. Deuterated solvents
(CDCl₃ and C₆D₆) were purchased from
Sigma-Aldrich or Eurisotop.
All manipulations were performed
in air, unless otherwise indicated. All chemicals are used as received
unless otherwise mentioned. When required, organic solvents are dried
according to the procedure described by Williams et al.^{82 (link)} making use of 20% m/v freshly activated 3 Å
sieves for a minimum of 120 h.

Iso-propanol (i-PrOH, 99.5%, anhydrous), phenylselenyl bromide (PhSeBr, 98%), D-tartaric acid (DTA, 98%), D-lactic acid (DLA, 98%), 1,2,3,4,5-pentafluoro-6-iodobenzene (PFIB, 98%), 1,4-diiodotetrafluorobenzene (DIFB, 98%), dimethylsulfate (DMS, 99%), benzyl chloride (BC, 98%), copper acetate (Cu²⁺, 98%) and Karstedt’s catalyst (Pt(0), 2% Pt in xylene) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich. All other reagents were used as received, unless mentioned elsewhere. The diblock copolymer P2VP₆₈-b-PFMA₄₁ (P2VP = poly(2-vinyl pyridine), PFMA = poly(2-(perfluorooctyl)ethyl methacrylate, the subscripts represent the numbers of repeating units) was synthesized via sequential anionic polymerization^{30 (link)}. Carbon nanotubes with hydroxyl surface groups (CNTs, multi-walled, the inside diameter of 5–12 nm and the outside diameter of 30–50 nm) was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich. Graphene oxide nanosheets (GOs) was purchased from Tanfeng Tech. Inc. Carboxyl-decorated polystyrene spheres (NSs, diameter of 90 nm) were purchased from BaseLine Chrom. Tech. Research Centre. The CNTs, GOs, and NSs solution (1.0 mg/mL, i-PrOH) were dispersed via sonication (50 W sonication processor equipped with a titanium sonotrode) at 0 °C for 15 min before use.