Abstract: | The Reaction of Phenols with N-substituted Maleinimides Phenoxysuccinimides are formed by the base catalysed addition of phenols to N-substituted maleinimides. In the presence of catalytic amounts of tertiary aliphatic amines yields as high as 90% are obtained. A series of adducts of mono-and di-phenols to mono- and bismaleinimides is described. Pure phenoxysuccinimides are stable compounds but the basic catalysts of their formation give rise to their decomposition into the phenolic component and oligomeric maleinimide. A nucleophilic reaction mechanism both for the formation and the decomposition is discussed. A new crosslinked addition polymer from a diphenol and a bismaleinimide with a surprisingly high heat stability is described. |