Benzoxazine containing polyester thermosets with improved adhesion and flexibility

High molecular weight polyesters containing thermally curable benzoxazine units in the main chain have been synthesized. For this purpose, first the diol functional monomer is synthesized through the Mannich and subsequent ring closure reactions of bisphenol‐A, paraformaldehyde, and 5‐amino‐1‐pentanol. Polycondensation of the resulting benzoxazine and pyromellitic dianhydride or 4‐4′‐(hexafluoroisopropylidene) diphatalic anhydride with or without dibutyltin laurate yielded the corresponding polyesters with the molecular weights between 5800 and 7000 Da. The structures of the precursor diol monomer and the resulting polyesters are confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy analysis. Curing behavior of both the monomer and polymers has also been studied by differential scanning calorimetry. Flexible films of the polyesters were obtained by solvent casting on tin plates and crosslinked by heating in the absence of any catalyst. The cured films exhibited high flexibility and adhesion on the tin plates as determined by ASTM and DIN tests. Thermal properties of the cured polymers were also investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 4279–4284, 2010