Reverse iodine transfer polymerizations (RITP) of 2-h-ydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) were performed in N,N-dimethylformamide at 75 C using AIBN as initiator. Poly(2-hydroxyethyl acrylate) (PHEA) with M n ¼ 3300 g mol À1 and M w /M n <1.5 were obtained. Homopolymerization of styrene in RITP was also carried out under similar conditions using toluene as solvent. The resulting iodopolystyrene (PS-I) with (M n, SEC ¼ 607 g mol À1 , polydispersity index (PDI) ¼ 1.31) was used as a macroinitiator for the synthesis of amphiphilic block copolymers based on HEA with controlled well-defined structure. Poly(styrene-b-2-hydroxyethyl acrylate) (PS-b-PHEA) with M n ¼ 13,000 g mol À1 and polydispersity index (M w /M n ) ¼ 1.4 was obtained, copolymer composition was characterized using 1 H-NMR and FTIR, whereas SEC and gradient HPLC were used to confirm the formation of block copolymer and the living character of polymer chains.