Iron 3 bromide

Silicon wafers were obtained from ON Semiconductor (Roznov, Czech Republic). Hydrogen peroxide (30%, p.a.), sulfuric acid (96%, p.a.), hydrochloric acid (35–38%, p.a.), toluene (p.a.), tetrahydrofuran (THF, p.a.), dichloromethane (DCM, p.a.), ethanol (p.a.), and methanol (p.a.) were purchased from Chempur (Piekary Slaskie, Poland). In addition to this, (3-aminopropyl) trimethoxysilane (APTES, 99%), α-bromophenylacetyl chloride (BPA-Cl, technical, 80%), triethylamine (TEA, puriss. p.a., ≥99.5%, GC), ethyl α-bromophenylacetate (EBPA, 97%), and methyl methacrylate (MMA, 99%, ≤30 ppm MEHQ as an inhibitor) were purchased from Sigma Aldrich. Anisole (>99%), tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBABr, 99%) were purchased from Fluorochem (Hadfield, UK). Iron (III) bromide (FeBr₃, anhydrous, >98%) was obtained from Alfa Aesar and stored in an argon atmosphere. MMA was passed through the basic alumina column to remove inhibitors before the polymerization, while anisole was passed through a neutral alumina column and dried over molecular sieves under argon atmosphere. Rest of chemicals were used as received.