Atom-transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) is a controlled or living radical polymerization (CRP) technique [1,2] that enables the preparation of new nanostructured materials that are not accessible by conventional free-radical polymerization (FRP). Reported herein is the ATRP of polar monomers such as (meth)acrylates and related block copolymers by means of a new initiating/catalytic method based on activators regenerated by electron transfer (ARGET) with ppm (10 À4 mol % vs. monomer) amounts of Cu catalyst. [3] ATRP [4][5][6][7] provides a simple route to many well-defined (co)polymers with precisely controlled functionalities, topologies, and compositions. [8][9][10] It has been very successfully applied to the preparation of many nanocomposites, hybrids, and bioconjugates. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] The advantages of ATRP, in comparison with other CRP processes, include the large range of available monomers and (macro)initiators, the simplicity of reaction setup, and the ability to conduct the process over a large range of temperatures, solvents, and dispersed media. [6,7,24] ATRP (Scheme 1) is a repetitive atom-transfer process between a macromolecular alkyl halide P n ÀX and a redoxactive transition-metal complex Cu I ÀX/ligand in which P n C radicals propagate (rate constant of propagation k p ) and are reversibly formed (rate constants k a and k da ). The growing radicals also terminate by coupling or disproportionation (rate constant k t ).An inherent feature, but also a limitation of ATRP, is the presence of a catalyst (a transition-metal complex with Scheme 1. Mechanism for ATRP.