Disclosed is a method for activating a solid support material with epoxy groups and for immobilizing ligands thereon, utilizing phase transfer catalytic conditions. The method permits the introduction of epoxy groups and specific nucleophilic ligands on the support material with a high level of substitution. Furthermore, the invention provides a general method for immobilizing a ligand for use in a wide variety of chromatographic separation procedures such as ion exchange chromatography, hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC), reverse phase chromatography (RPC), or affinity chromatography.