When covalently attached to a surface, PPGs do not exhibit any surface-induced properties (i.e. they behave like PPGs in solution, and do not exhibit any new properties because of their proximity to a surface). Consequently, PPGs can be patterned on a surface and removed in manner analogous to lithography to create a multifunctionalized surface. This process was first reported by Solas in 1991; protected nucleotides were attached to a surface and spatially-resolved single stranded polynucleotides were generated in a step-wise “grafting from” method. In separate studies, there have been multiple reports of using PPGs to enable the selective separation of blocks within block-copolymers to expose fresh surfaces. Furthermore, this surface patterning method has since been extended to proteins. Caged etching agents (such as hydrogen fluoride protected with 4-hydroxyphenacyl) allows to etch only surfaces exposed to light.