## 4 Materials and Methods
### Synthesis and Characterization of Polymeric Supports  
All initial STY-DVB copolymers were synthesized by a free radical copolymerization of monomers, by the suspension method. In a typical experiment, 180 mL of aqueous phase and 40 mL of organic phase were placed in three-necked round-bottom flask equipped with a reflux condenser, thermometer, and mechanical stirrer. The synthesis was carried out at 80 \({}^{\circ}\)C for 8 h, with agitation. Obtained polymer beads were filtered and rigorously washed with hot water, acetone, and r.t. water, and then dried in air at 60-80 \({}^{\circ}\)C.  
The aqueous phase contained 0.94 g of polyvinyl alcohol GM-14 as the suspension stabilizing surfactant, 9.04 g of NaCl, 0.50 g of K2 Cr2O7, and 180 mL of water. The organic phases comprised of STY, DVB, 2 wt.%BPO, and porogen at a monomer/porogen volumetric ratio of 1.5-3 \(v/v\) (see Table 2).  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline
**Initial** **Copolymer Designation** & **STY/DVB** **Molar Ratio** & **Porogen** & **Monomer/Porogen, \(v/v\)** \\ \hline C7 & 93/7 & C7H15 OH & 1.5 \\ PS & 93/7 & 5\% PSt solution in toluene & 1.5 \\ OF2 & 97/3 & OF & 2.0 \\ OF3 & 95/5 & OF & 3.0 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 2: The composition of the organic phases.  
Samples of the HPS series were synthesized by the cross-linking of the copolymers with monochlorodimethylether using 1 mole of ether to STY unit, according to the procedure described elsewhere [34; 35]. The degree of cross-linking estimates was 200%. Resulting polymers were designated as C7, PS, OF2, and OF3.  
For all the synthesized polymers, the weight-swelling ratio (\(Q_{w}\)) in toluene (the solvent used for hydrogenation reactions) was found, according to the procedure described elsewhere [34]. In a typical measurement, about 1.5 mL of polymer swollen in toluene was placed in a porous-bottom tube, which was then sealed; the interbead liquid was removed by centrifugation at 3000 rpm for 5 min. The polymer was then transferred to a preliminarily weighed sample bottle, and the bottle with the polymer was weighed. After that, the sorbent was dried in an oven at 110 \({}^{\circ}\)C to a constant weight. The weight-swelling ratio was calculated as the amount of the solvent (mL) retained by one gram of the dry polymer. Thus, the following values of \(Q_{w}\) were found: 1.18 mL/g (C7); 1.23 mL/g (PS); 1.64 mL/g (OF2); and 1.57 mL/g (OF3).  
Morphology of the samples PS and OF3 was additionally characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (_SEM_) using a TM3000 instrument (Hitachi, Japan). The samples were glued onto double-sided electrically conductive carbon tape and were treated by vacuum spraying of gold. The scanning voltage was 30 kV.  
Moreover, pretreated (washed, dried, and crushed; see Section 4.3) polymers were characterized by liquid nitrogen physisorption and Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (_DRIFTS_).  
_Liquid nitrogen physisorption_ was carried out to determine SSA and porosity using a Beckman Coulter SA 3100 (Coulter Corporation, Brea, CA, USA). Prior to the analysis, each sample was placed in a quartz cell installed in the Beckman Coulter SA-PREP. The samples were pretreated over 60 min under nitrogen at 120 \({}^{\circ}\)C. Once the pretreatment was complete, the cell was cooled, weighed, and then transferred to the analytical port. Analysis was performed at \(-196\)\({}^{\circ}\)C and a relative pressure of 0.9814 (for pores less than 100 nm in diameter) to obtain a PSD (ADS) profile. The accuracy of the SSA measurement for the BET model is 2%.  
_DRIFTS_ was carried out using an IRPrestige-21 FTIR spectrometer (Shimadzu, Japan) equipped with a DRS-8000 diffuse reflectance accessory (Shimadzu, Japan). The background sample was a mirror of the material of the optical system of the DRS-8000 accessory. All spectra were recorded in the 4000-500 cm\({}^{-1}\) range of wavenumbers at a resolution of 4 cm\({}^{-1}\).