Summary: A detailed investigation of the polymerization of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA), an epoxy‐functional monomer, by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) was performed. Homopolymers were prepared at relatively low temperatures using ethyl 2‐bromoisobutyrate (EBrIB) as the initiator and copper halide (CuX) with N,N,N′,N″,N″‐pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (PMDETA) as the catalyst system. The high polymerization rate in the bulk did not permit polymerization control. However, homopolymerization in solution enabled us to explore the effects of different experimental parameters, such as temperature, solvent (toluene vs. diphenyl ether) and initiator concentration, on the controllability of the ATRP process. SEC analysis of the homopolymers synthesized confirmed the importance of solvent character on molecular weight control, the lowest polydispersity indices ($\overline M _{\rm w} /\overline M _{\rm n} < 1.25$) and the highest efficiencies being found when the polymerizations were performed in diphenyl ether in combination with a mixed halide technique. A novel poly(glycidyl methacrylate)‐block‐poly(butyl acrylate) (PGMA‐b‐PBA) diblock copolymer was prepared through ATRP using PGMA‐Cl as a macro‐initiator. This chain growth experiment demonstrated a good living character under the conditions employed, while simultaneously indicating a facile synthetic route for this type of functional block copolymer. In addition, the isotacticity parameter for the PGMAs obtained was estimated using 1H NMR analysis which gave a value of σGMA = 0.26 in agreement with that estimated in conventional radical polymerization.SEC chromatograms of PGMA‐Cl macroinitiator and PGMA‐b‐PBA diblock copolymer.magnified imageSEC chromatograms of PGMA‐Cl macroinitiator and PGMA‐b‐PBA diblock copolymer.

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Free-radical copolymerization at 50°C of butyl acrylate with methyl methacrylate was carried out in benzene solution using 3 and 5 m o m as the overall concentration of monomers. Both the reactivity ratios and the rate coefficients of copolymerization are affected by the total monomer concentration. Reactivity ratios were analyzed on the basis of the "bootstrap" model, and the copolymerization rate is interpreted assuming a penultimate effect upon the propagation reaction.

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Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a lethal neurodegenerative disease that usually results in respiratory paralysis in an interval of 2 to 4 years. ALS shows a multifactorial pathogenesis with an unknown etiology, and currently lacks an effective treatment. The vast majority of patients exhibit protein aggregation and a dysfunctional mitochondrial accumulation in their motoneurons. As a result, autophagy and mitophagy modulators may be interesting drug candidates that mitigate key pathological hallmarks of the disease. This work reviews the most relevant evidence that correlate mitophagy defects and ALS, and discusses the possibility of considering mitophagy as an interesting target in the search for an effective treatment for ALS.

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