An adamantane-based atom transfer radical initiator (Adm-Br) was prepared by the treatment of 1-[[N-[2-Hydroxy-l,l-bis(hydroxymethyl)ethyl]amino] carbonyl] adamantane with bromopropionyl bromide. The resulting initiator was subsequently used in the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA) to form (Adm-p-MMA), which was successfully used, as a macroinitiator, in further ATRP reactions with 3-O-methacryloyl-1,2 5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-alpha-D-glucofuranose (gly), a glycomonomer, to afford the Adm-p-MMA-b-gly polymer. The new Adm-p-MMA-b-gly polymer subsequently was employed to form a nanocomposite with chitosan-modified, Nanofil clay (NC). The resulting Adm-p-MMA-b-gly/NC composite material was progressively hydrolyzed to regenerate the OH groups of the glucose units within the Adm-p-MMA-b-gly copolymer. The polymer/NC nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, thermal gravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and transmission electron microscopy. (C) 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers