Classical or macroautophagy is a normal degradative pathway that exists in all eukaryotic cells (for reviews see Holtman, 1989; Seglen and Bohley, 1992). This degradative mechanism involves the sequestration of intracellular material, including organelles, by membranes of the ER (Marzella and Glaumann, 1987; Dunn, 1990a; Furuno et al., 1990; Ueno et al., 1991), to form a unique nascent autphagi...

Quantum chemical calculations reveal that ozone is capable of instigating a series of degradative processes in poly(methyl methacrylate). The crux lies in the self-decomposition of 1,2,4-trioxolane, which undergoes a spin intersystem crossing process and O-O bond cleavage to unravel a triplet biradical intermediate that facilitates auto-degradation of the polymer chain.