Poly(arylene ether)s, poly(arylene thioether)s, and poly(arylene sulfone)s derived from a dihydroxy(imidoarylene) monomer

Novel poly(arylene ether)s, poly(arylene thioether)s, and poly(arylene sulfone)s were synthesized from the dihydroxy(imidoarylene) monomer 1. The syntheses of poly(arylene ether)s were carried out in DMAc in the presence of anhydrous K2CO3 by a nucleophilic substitution reaction between the bisphenol and activated difluoro compounds. Poly(arylene thioether)s were synthesized according to the recently discovered one-pot polymerization reaction between a bis(N,N′-dimethyl-S-carbamate) and activated difluoro compounds in the presence of a mixture of Cs2CO3 and CaCO3. The bis(N,N′-dimethyl-S-carbamate) 3 was synthesized by the thermal rearrangement reaction of bis(N,N′-dimethylthiocarbamate) 2, which was synthesized from 1 by a phase-transfer catalyzed reaction. The poly(arylene thioether)s were further oxidized to form poly(arylene sulfone)s, which would be very difficult, if not impossible, to synthesize by other methods. All of the polymers described have extremely high Tgs and thermal stability as determined from DSC and TGA analysis. Poly(arylene sulfone)s have the highest Tgs and they are in the range of 298–361°C. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 36: 1201–1208, 1998