Chloroform, ethanol, ethyl acetate, hexane, isopropanol, isooctane, metha­nol, and 2-ethoxyethanol (2-EE; Acros, Bridgewater, NJ, USA) were ob­tained from Fisher (Waltham, MA, USA) and were either HPLC or ACS reagent grade. Sulfuric acid and potassium hydroxide were reagent grade (Fisher). Sodium methoxide in methanol (0.5M), methyl oleate, methyl palmitate, di(ethylene glycol) vinyl ether (DEG), 2-dimethylamino meth­acrylate (DMA), divinylbenzene (DVB), ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA), hexyl methacrylate (HMA), vinyl imidazole (IM), and azobi — sisobutyronitrile (AIBN) were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA). Triolein was obtained from Nuchek Prep (Elysian, MN, USA) and mineral oil (Squibb) was purchased locally.

All HPLC solvents were degassed and filtered through 0.5 micron PTFE filters (Ominpore, Waters Corp, Milford, MA, USA) prior to use. Isooctane was dried by storing over calcium hydride and filtered before use. Amberlite® ion exchange resin CG-400 (100-200 mesh, chromato­graphic grade; Mallinckrodt, St. Louis, MO, USA) was prepared by wash­ing and settling in distilled water in order to remove fines, then dried at 55 °C.