Synthesis of Poly(arylene ether amine)s from a Monomer Containing an Electron‐Donating Amine Group in a Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution Reaction

Summary: Poly(arylene ether amine)s were synthesized by a nucleophilic aromatic substitution polycondensation of bis[4‐fluoro‐3‐(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]amine with several bisphenols. Even though the monomer has an electron‐donating diphenylamine moiety, which normally deactivates a nucleophilic aromatic substitution (S_NAr) reaction, the polymerization proceeded by a S_NAr reaction to give high‐molecular‐weight polymers. The polymers show good solubility in common organic solvents and have T_gs in the range of 123 °C to 177 °C.

High‐molecular‐weight poly(arylene ether amine)s synthesized by a S_NAr reaction with the monomer containing an electron‐donating diphenylamine moiety.     

Effect of gamma radiation on fluoropolymers

A series of fluoropolymer films were synthesized by reacting several bisphenol monomers with 1,3‐bis(1,1,1,3,3,3‐hexafluoro‐2‐pentafluorophenyl methoxy‐2‐propyl)benzene via a nucleophilic aromatic substitution to form polyethers. The bisphenols used included two diphenol‐substituted spirodilactams (SDL; aliphatic and aromatic), biphenol, bisphenol A, bisphenol AF, bisphenol O, and bisphenol F to form seven different polymers. Polymers were irradiated by a Gamma beam 651‐PT at a dose rate of 10.5 kGy/h; the absorbed dose in each film was varied between 300 and 1000 kGy. The effect on the chemical structure upon radiation was studied by DSC, TGA, FTIR‐ATR, and NMR after and before irradiation. Thermal analysis showed a lessened thermal stability and a lower T_g after irradiation. Further, irradiation caused a decrease in molecular weight as a result of cleavage of sp³ bonds. These data allowed calculation of the radiochemical yield scission (G_s) for each of these polymers. The SDL aromatic system proved the most radiation‐resistant. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 1617–1626, 2009     

Synthesis and properties of fluorine‐containing poly(aryl ether oxadiazole)s

Fluorine‐containing poly(aryl ether 1,3,4‐ozadiazole)s were synthesized by the nucleophilic aromatic substitution reaction of 2,5‐bis(2,3,4,5,6‐pentafluorophenyl)‐1,3,4‐oxadiazole and various bisphenols in the presence of potassium carbonate. The polymerizations were carried out at 30 °C in 1‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidinone to avoid the gelation caused by a crosslinking reaction at para and ortho carbons to the 1,3,4‐oxidiazole ring. The obtained polymers were all para‐connected linear structures. The obtained fluorine‐containing poly(aryl ether 1,3,4‐ozadiazole)s showed excellent solubility and afforded tough, transparent films by the solution‐casting method. They also exhibited a high glass transition temperature depending on the molecular structure, and the glass transition temperature could be controlled by the bisphenols in the range of 157–257 °C. They showed good thermal stability and excellent hydrophobicity due to the incorporation of the 2,3,5,6‐tetrafluoro‐1,4‐phenylene moiety. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 2855–2866, 2007     

Synthesis of hyperbranched poly(ether nitrile)s by one‐step polycondensation of an AB2 monomer

Hyperbranched poly(ether nitrile)s were prepared from a novel AB₂ type monomer, 2‐chloro‐4‐(3,5‐dihydroxyphenoxy)benzonitrile, via nucleophilic aromatic substitution. Soluble and low‐viscous hyperbranched polymers with molecular weights upto 233,600 (M_w) were isolated. According to the ¹H NMR and GPC data, the unique polymerization behavior was observed, which implies that the weight average molecular weight increased after the number average molecular weight reached plateau region. Model compounds were prepared to characterize the branching structure. Spectroscopic measurements of the model compounds and the resulting polymers, such as ¹H, DEPT ¹³C NMR, and MS, strongly suggest that the ether exchange reaction and cyclization are involved in the propagation reaction. The side reactions would affect the unique polymerization behavior. The resulting polymers showed a good solubility in organic solvents similar to other hyperbranched aromatic polymers. The hydroxy‐terminated polymer was even soluble in basic water. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 5835–5844, 2009     

Phthalide as an activating group for the synthesis of poly(aryl ether phthalide)s by nucleophilic aromatic substitution

The phthalide ring was examined as an activating group for nucleophilic aromatic substitution. The proposed mechanism by which activation occurs is through a ring opening of the phthalide ring to form a Meisenheimer‐like σ complex. 3,3‐Bis(4‐fluorophenyl)phthalide was synthesized and examined under different reaction conditions to determine its suitability for polymer formation. Semiempirical calculations at the PM3 level suggested that 3,3‐bis(4‐fluorophenyl)phthalide is only moderately activated, whereas ¹H, ¹³C, and ¹⁹F NMR spectroscopy suggested that the monomer was not sufficiently activated for nucleophilic aromatic substitution. However, low‐molecular‐weight polymers (number‐average molecular weight < 7000 g/mol) were produced from bisphenol A, hydroquinone, and phenolphthalein. The polymers were characterized by gel permeation chromatography, matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry, NMR spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry. The polymers displayed relatively high glass‐transition temperatures. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 3046–3054, 2002     

A series of new high‐performance materials based on poly[4′‐fluorophenyl‐bis(4‐phenyl)phosphine oxide]

A new series of high‐performance poly(arylene phosphine oxide) (PAPO) materials were synthesized postpolymerization from fluorinated poly(arylene phosphine oxide) (f‐PAPO). The new materials had increased solubility and film‐forming ability over the parent f‐PAPO. With the careful choice of the nucleophile, the thermal stability was also increased. The parent polymer f‐PAPO was synthesized via Ni(0) coupling from aromatic chloride and mesylate monomers. Both monomers were polymerized successfully to create polymers with intrinsic viscosities of 0.235 and 0.123 dL/g, respectively. The higher molecular weight f‐PAPO gave a glass transition of 320 °C and a char yield of 54% at 650 °C in air. The substitution of f‐PAPO via nucleophilic aromatic substitution produced PAPO thermoplastics with significant changes in the properties. The largest increase in the thermal stability relative to f‐PAPO was from 563 to 600 °C 10% weight‐loss values in nitrogen after the displacement of fluoride by 4‐aminophenol, which yielded poly[4‐(4‐aminopheonxyphenyl)bis(4′‐phenyl)phosphine oxide]. Additionally, the char yield increased from 54 to 71% in air at 650 °C. The solubility of the parent polymer was improved after substitution with 3‐tert‐butylphenol, n‐nonylamine, and poly(ethylene glycol)monomethyl ether. All of these became soluble in chloroform, N,N‐dimethylacetamide, and dimethyl sulfoxide. Copolymers were synthesized with 2,5‐dichloro‐4′‐fluorobenzophenone to improve the solubility of f‐PAPO without the loss of thermal stability. These copolymers also underwent nucleophilic aromatic substitution to create an epoxy cure agent that was used with the DEN 431 resin. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 2277–2287, 2003     

Synthesis of poly(arylene thioether)s from protected dithiols and aromatic difluorides with an organic base

Aromatic poly(arylene thioether)s were synthesized from N‐propyl‐S‐carbamate‐protected aromatic dithiols and aromatic difluorides. The deprotection of the protected dithiols with an organic base such as 1,8‐diazabicyclo[5.4.0]‐7‐undecene at room temperature and subsequent polymerization with the difluoride monomers at 120 °C in N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidinone produced high molecular weight polymers with intrinsic viscosities as high as 0.45 dL/g. The use of organic bases instead of inorganic bases for the generation of thiophenoxide nucleophile was a convenient way of avoiding metallic impurities in the synthesis of the poly(arylene thioether)s through a nucleophilic aromatic substitution reaction. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 2021–2027, 2005     

Synthesis and properties of poly(arylene ether phenyl-s-triazine)s

A series of new poly(arylene ether phenyl-s-triazine)s was prepared by the nucleophilic aromatic substitution polymerization of the potassium salt of bisphenols with 2,4-bis (halophenyl)-6-phenyl-s-triazine in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone at elevated temperature. The polymers with inherent viscosities exceeding 0.5 were obtained after polymerization for 1 h using 2,4-bis(fluorophenyl)-6-phenyl-s-triazine as a monomer. The glass transition temperatures of the resulting polymers ranged from 200 to 260°C depending on the bisphenol used in the polymer synthesis. The poly(arylene ether phenyl-s-triazine)s demonstrated excellent thermal stabilities in excess of 490°C (5% weight loss in air). The isothermal TGA measurements (400°C under air or nitrogen atmosphere) revealed that the 4,4'-biphenol- and hydroquinone-based poly(arylene ether phenyl-s-triazine)s belong to the most superior class of heat resistant polymers, such as polyimide Kapton?. The mechanical properties of these polymers are also described. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Poly(ether sulfone)s using a rigid dibenzothiophene dioxide heterocycle

Poly(aryl ether)s were prepared by nucleophilic aromatic substitution using conformationally restricted dichloro‐ and difluorodibenzothiophene dioxide heterocyclic monomers with bisphenol A or bisphenol AF. The heterocyclic monomers were prepared from the bis(4‐halophenyl) sulfones in two steps via lithiation followed by copper catalyzed intramolecular coupling and characterized by ¹H, ¹³C, ¹⁹F NMR spectroscopy and GC/MS. Reactivity of the fluorine containing monomer was examined using semi‐empirical methods and NMR spectroscopy measurements and found to be potentially more reactive than bis(4‐fluorophenyl) sulfone, even with a conformationally locked sulfone as the electron withdrawing group. Successful polymerizations of both the fluorine and chlorine containing monomers with bisphenol A and bisphenol AF nucleophiles were accomplished, providing polymers with number average molecular weights of approximately 45 kg/mol (difluoro monomer) and 10–20 kg/mol (dichloro monomer). The polymers exhibited high T_gs ranging from 238 to 256 °C and displayed good thermal stability with 5% degradation temperatures in air from 453–510 °C, depending on molecular weight and bisphenol composition. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 3127–3131     

An emerging post‐polymerization modification technique: The promise of thiol‐para‐fluoro click reaction

Post‐polymerization modification (PPM) of polymers is extremely beneficial in terms of designing brand new synthetic pathways toward functional complex polymers. Fortunately, the new developments in the field of organic chemistry along with controlled/living radical polymerization (CLRP) techniques have enabled scientists to readily design and synthesize the functionalized‐polymers for wide range of applications via the PPM. In this regard, the reactivity of para‐fluorine atom in the fluorinated aromatic structures toward the nucleophilic substitution reactions has made the polymers possessing this group to become a very strong candidate that can undergo efficient PPM. Besides, it has been proven that the thiol‐functionalized compounds react with the para‐fluorine atom of the pentafluorophenyl group more rapidly and efficiently than the amine‐ and the hydroxyl‐functionalized compounds. Furthermore, the milder experimental conditions to achieve quantitative conversions have led to the reaction between the thiol and the structures possessing pentafluorophenyl groups to be referred to as a click‐type reaction. Given this information, this review article aims to present the scientific developments regarding the thiol‐para‐fluoro “click” (TPF‐click) chemistry, and its impact on PPM to construct novel polymeric structures. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2018 , 56, 1181–1198     

Thianthrene as an activating group for the synthesis of poly(aryl ether thianthrene)s by nucleophilic aromatic substitution

A method for the preparation of poly(aryl ether thianthrene)s has been developed in which the aryl ether linkage is generated in the polymer‐forming reaction. The thianthrene heterocycle is sufficiently electron‐withdrawing to allow fluoro displacement with phenoxides by nucleophilic aromatic substitution. The monomer for this reaction, 2,7‐difluorothianthrene, can be synthesized in a moderate yield by a simple reaction sequence. Semiempirical calculations at the PM3 level suggest that 2,7‐difluorothianthrene is sufficiently activated, whereas NMR spectroscopy (¹H and ¹³C) indicates that the monomer is only slightly activated or (¹⁹F) not sufficiently activated for nucleophilic aromatic substitution. Model reactions with p‐cresol have demonstrated that the fluorine atoms on 2,7‐difluorothianthrene are readily displaced by phenoxides in high yields, and the process has been deemed suitable for polymer‐forming reactions. High‐molecular‐weight polymers have been produced from bisphenol A, bisphenol AF, and 4,4′‐biphenol. The polymers have been characterized with gel permeation chromatography, NMR spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, and matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry. The glass‐transition temperatures for the polymers of different compositions and molecular weights range from 138 to 181 °C, and all the polymers have shown high thermooxidative stability, with 5% weight loss values in an air environment approaching 500 °C. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 6353–6363, 2004     

Perfluorocyclohexenyl aryl ether polymers via polycondensation of decafluorocyclohexene with bisphenols

A novel class of semifluorinated perfluorocyclohexenyl (PFCH) aryl ether homo/copolymers was successfully synthesized with high yield through the step‐growth polymerization of commercially available bisphenols and decafluorocyclohexene in the presence of a triethylamine base. The synthesized polymers exhibit variable thermal properties depending on the functional spacer group (R). PFCH aryl ether copolymers with random and alternating architectures were also prepared from versatile bis‐perfluorocyclohexenyl aryl ether monomers. The PFCH polymers show high thermal stabilities with a 5% decomposition temperature ranging from 359 to 444 °C in air and nitrogen atmosphere. These semifluorinated PFCH aromatic ether polymers contain intact enchained PFCH olefin moieties, making further reactions such as crosslinking and application specific functionalization possible. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 232–238     

Synthesis and characterization of new polyamides based on Diphenylaminoisosorbide

New aromatic polyamides were synthesized by the microwave‐assisted polycondensation of an optically active isosorbide‐derived diamine with different diacyl chlorides in the presence of a small amount of N‐methylpyrrolidinone. Polymers with inherent viscosities between 0.22 and 0.73 dL/g were obtained corresponding to molecular weights up to 140,000 g/mol. With interfacial polymerization or the Higashi method, lower molecular weight polymers were obtained with inherent viscosities in the range of 0.04–0.36 dL/g. Differential scanning calorimetry measurements clearly demonstrated the high thermal stability of these polymers (mp = 180–300 °C) and the absence of decomposition. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 6480–6491, 2005     

Solution polymerization of polybenzimidazole

Polybenzimidazoles (PBI) are an important class of heterocyclic polymers that exhibit high thermal and oxidative stabilities. The two dominant polymerization methods used for the synthesis of PBI are the melt/solid polymerization route and solution polymerization using polyphosphoric acid as the solvent. Both methods have been widely used to produce high‐molecular weight PBI, but also highlight the obvious absence of a practical organic solution‐based method of polymerization. This current work explores the synthesis of high‐molecular weight meta‐PBI in N,N‐dimethyl acetamide (DMAc). Initially, model compound studies examined the reactivity of small molecules with various chemical functionalities that could be used to produce 2‐phenyl‐benzimidazole in high yield with minimal side reactions. ¹H NMR and FTIR studies indicated that benzimidazoles could be efficiently synthesized in DMAc by reaction of an o‐diamine and the bisulfite adduct of an aromatic aldehyde. Polymerizations were conducted at various polymer concentrations (2‐26 wt % polymer) using difunctional monomers to optimize reaction conditions in DMAc which resulted in the preparation of high‐molecular weight m‐PBI (inherent viscosities up to 1.3 dL g^?1). TGA and DSC confirmed that m‐PBI produced via this route has comparable properties to that of commercial m‐PBI. This method is advantageous in that it not only allows for high‐polymer concentrations of m‐PBI to be synthesized directly and efficiently, but can be applied to the synthesis of many PBI derivatives. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 1795–1802     

Synthesis of well‐defined comb‐like graft (co)polymers by nucleophilic substitution reaction between living polymers and polyhalohydrocarbon

A series of graft (co)polymers were synthesized by nucleophilic substitution reaction between iodinated 1,2‐polybutadiene (PB‐I, backbone) and living polymer lithium (side chains). The coupling reaction between PB‐I and living polymers can finish within minutes at room temperature, and high conversion (up to 92%) could be obtained by effectively avoiding side reaction of dimerization when living polymers were capped with 1,1‐diphenylethylene. By virtue of living anionic polymerization, backbone length, side chain length, and side chain composition, as well as graft density, were well controlled. Tunable molecular weight of graft (co)polymers with narrow molecular weight distribution can be obtained by changing either the lengths of side chain and backbone, or the graft density. Graft copolymers could also be synthesized with side chains of multicomponent polymers, such as block polymer (polystyrene‐b‐polybutadiene) and even mixed polymers (polystyrene and polybutadiene) as hetero chains. Thus, based on living anionic polymerization, this work provides a facile way for modular synthesis of graft (co)polymers via nucleophilic substitution reaction between living polymers and polyhalohydrocarbon (PB‐I). © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2013     

Poly(arylene thioether) synthesis via nitro‐displacement reaction

High molecular weight poly(arylene thioether)s containing trifluoromethyl groups were prepared through the aromatic nucleophilic nitro‐displacement reaction of a dinitro monomer with aromatic dithiols. The high reactivity of the monomer, 4,4′‐dinitro‐3,3′‐bis(trifluoromethyl)biphenyl(1), activated by o‐trifluoromethyl groups and complete exclusion of oxygen was critical for the successful polymerization without any disulfide formation. The resulting trifluoromethylated poly(arylene thioether)s ( P1 and P2 ) were amorphous, dissolved in common organic solvents, and showed superior thermal properties compared to commercial poly(phenylene sulfide). © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2440–2447, 2006     

Convenient synthetic route to tetraarylphosphonium polyelectrolytes via palladium‐catalyzed P–C coupling of aryl triflates and diphenylphosphine

A series of eight tetraarylphosphonium polyelectrolytes (TPELs) has been successfully synthesized by polymerization of diphenylphosphine and bis(aryl triflate)s. The bis(aryl triflate)s are readily prepared from bisphenols, some of which are commodity feedstocks such as bisphenol A. The polymerization via palladium catalyzed P–C bond formation produces degrees of polymerization up to 65. All polymeric triflates have reasonable thermal stability in the range of 350–450 °C. The stability of the TPELs to alkaline solution is strongly depending on the spacer between adjacent phosphonium sites. Polymers with electron‐releasing and bulky substituent para‐ to the phosphonium site have improved stability while those with electron‐withdrawing substituent para‐ to phosphonium site have decreased alkaline stability due to decomposition via a nucleophilic aromatic substitution pathway. These findings have important ramifications for the design of ionomers for alkaline exchange membrane fuel cells and related electrochemical energy conversion devices. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55, 1984–1990     

Synthesis and characterization of aromatic poly(ether sulfone)s containing pendant sodium sulfonate groups

Poly(ether sulfone)s containing pendant sodium sulfonate groups were prepared by the aromatic nucleophilic substitution reaction of 4,4′-dichlorodiphenylsulfone ( 1 ) and sodium 5,5′-sulfonylbis (2-chlorobenzenesulfonate) ( 2 ) with bisphenols ( 3 ) in the presence of potassium carbonate in N,N-dimethylacetamide. A new monomer 2 containing the sodium sulfonate groups was synthesized by the sulfonation of 1 with fuming sulfuric acid. The polycondensation proceeded smoothly at 170°C and produced the desired poly(ether sulfone)s containing the sodium sulfonate with inherent viscosities up to 1.2 dL/g. The polymers were quite soluble in strong acid, dipolar aprotic solvents, m-cresol, and dichloromethane. The thermogravimetry of the polymers showed excellent thermal stability, indicating that 10% weight losses of the polymers were observed in the range above 460°C in nitrogen atmosphere. Both the glass transition temperatures and hydrophilicity of the polymers increased with increasing their concentrations of sodium sulfonate groups. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The influence of vinyl activating groups on β‐allyl sulfone‐based chain transfer agents for tough methacrylate networks

In radical polymerization of monofunctional monomers, addition fragmentation chain transfer (AFCT) agents are well known to regulate polymerization and yield polymers with lower molecular weights and narrower molecular weight distributions. Papers concerning bulk photopolymerization of monomer mixtures with AFCT agents are rarely found in literature. In this article, AFCT reagents based on β‐allyl sulfones with different vinyl activating groups were synthesized and compared. The compounds were tested in mono‐ and difunctional monomer systems providing information about the influence on photoreactivity, molecular weight, as well as thermal and mechanical properties of the resultant polymers. Where more potent activating groups (‐Ph, ‐CN) markedly influenced polymerization at lower concentrations, the AFCT reagent with an ester activating group reacted at a similar rate to the methacrylate monomer (C_T ≈ 1) and provided the best overall performance. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 1417‐1427     

Fluoride‐terminated hyperbranched poly(arylene ether phosphine oxide)s via nucleophilic aromatic substitution

A series of AB_x‐type triarylphosphine oxide monomers, bis‐(4‐fluorophenyl)‐(4‐hydroxyphenyl)phosphine oxide ( 4a ), bis‐(3,4‐difluorophenyl)‐(4‐hydroxyphenyl)phosphine oxide ( 4b ), and 4‐hydroxyphenyl‐bis‐(3,4,5‐trifluorophenyl)phosphine oxide ( 4c ) were prepared, characterized, and polymerized under nucleophilic aromatic substitution conditions [N‐methylpyrrolidone (NMP), K₂CO₃] to provide the corresponding hyperbranched poly(arylene ether phosphine oxide)s with number‐average molecular weights ranging from 9200 to 14,600 Da. NMR spectroscopic analysis indicated the presence of highly branched products with an approximate degree of branching of 0.57. The polymers were soluble in a variety of typical organic solvents and displayed excellent thermal stability. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 1456–1467, 2002