## Materials and Methods
### Synthesis of 4-Octyloxybenzyl Chloride  
4-Octyloxybenzyl chloride was synthesized according to the literature [15; 16] as follows: 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (0.16 mol, 20 g) was dissolved together with potassium hydroxide (0.2 mol, 11.12 g) in acetonitrile (270 mL) in a three-necked flask. The reaction was stirred at room temperature and heated to reflux at 90 \({}^{\circ}\)C. 1-Bromoocatne (0.15 mol, 27 mL) was then added during 1 h and the reaction mixture was vigorously stirred overnight. Thereafter, the mixture was cooled to room temperature and quenched with 250 mL of water, transferred to a separatory funnel and extracted with hexane (200 mL). The organic layer was washed twice with 30 mL of NaOH solution (10% in mass) and finally with water (three times 30 mL). The organic phase was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and concentrated in a rotary vapor at 300 mbar (40 \({}^{\circ}\)C) giving 4-octyloxy benzaldehyde as a pale-yellow oil (25.1 g, 0.11 mol, yield: 70%). \({}^{1}\)H NMR (CDCl\({}_{3}\)): \(\delta\) = 0.88 (t, 3H, CH\({}_{3}\)), 1.19-1.55 (m, 10 H, 5 CH\({}_{2}\)), 1.74-1.84 (m, 2H, CH\({}_{2}\)), 4.01 (t, 2H, CH\({}_{2}\)O), 6.65-6.98 (d, 2H, Ar), 7.79-7.82 (d, 2H, Ar), 9.85 (s, 1H, COH) ppm.  
Afterwards, 4-octyloxy benzaldehyde (25.1 g, 0.107 mol) was dissolved in tetrahydrofuran (THF) (20 mL) and added dropwise to a stirred suspension of NaBH\({}_{4}\) (8.1 g, 0.2 mol) in dry THF (140 mL) at 0 \({}^{\circ}\)C. The reaction mixture was then warmed up to room temperature and stirred overnight. The reaction mixture was quenched with 50 mL of water and the organic layer was separated, washed with water (three times) and dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate [17]. The solvent was then removed by evaporation at 11 mbar and 40 \({}^{\circ}\)C, giving a white solid that was dissolved in 5 mL of THF and poured into 400 mL of water under stirring. The white precipitate was filtered (cellulose filter) and the cake was dried under vacuum (0.7 mbar) to give 4-octyloxybenzyl alcohol as a white powder (0.08 mol, 20.14 g, yield: 80%). \({}^{1}\)H NMR (CDCl\({}_{3}\)): \(\delta\) = 0.86-0.91 (t, 3H, CH\({}_{3}\)), 1.20-1.49 (m, 10 H, 5 CH\({}_{2}\)), 1.73-1.82 (m, 2H, CH\({}_{2}\)), 3.93-3.95 (t, 2H, CH\({}_{2}\)OAr), 4.61 (s, 2H, CH\({}_{2}\)OH) 6.87-6.90 (d, 2H, Ar), 7.26-7.29 (d, 2H, Ar) ppm. C\({}_{15}\)H\({}_{24}\)O\({}_{2}\) (236.35 g mol\({}^{-1}\)): calcd. C 76.23, H 10.23, found C 76.18, H 10.12.  
Subsequently, 4-octyloxybenzyl alcohol (0.03 mol, 7.08 g) was dissolved in dichloromethane (200 mL) and thionyl chloride (0.036 mol, 4.26 g) was added to the solution dropwise at 0 \({}^{\circ}\)C. The mixture was then stirred at the same temperature during 2 h and the reaction was subsequently quenched with water (100 mL). The organic layer was extracted, washed with water (40 mL) and saturated aqueous sodium hydrogen carbonate (140 mL) and dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. The dichloromethane was evaporated at reduced pressure (100 mbar at 40 \({}^{\circ}\)C) obtaining 4-octyloxybenzyl chloride as a yellow pale oil (0.016 mol, 4.16 g, yield: 54%). \({}^{1}\)H NMR (CDCl\({}_{3}\)): \(\delta\) = 0.89-0.93 (t, 3H, CH\({}_{3}\)), 1.31-1.49 (m, 10 H, 5 CH\({}_{2}\)), 1.75-1.84 (m, 2H, CH\({}_{2}\)), 3.94-3.98 (t, 2H, CH\({}_{2}\)OAr), 4.57 (s, 2H, CH\({}_{2}\)Cl) 6.87-6.90 (d, 2H, Ar), 7.29-7.32 (d, 2H, Ar) ppm. C\({}_{15}\)H\({}_{24}\)OCl (254.80 g): calcd. C 70.71, H 9.10, found C 70.92, H 9.22.