Abstract: | The first general single-step route to dendritic or cascade polyaryl ethers analogous to common linear polyaryl ethers is described. The sodium salts of four AB2 monomers each containing a single phenolic hydroxyl group and two aryl fluorides activated toward nucleophilic substitution by carbonyl, sulphonyl, or tetrafluorophenyl moieties are shown to polymerize in hot N, N-dimethylacetamide. The products are high molecular weight polymers (7000 < Mn < 36000), have narrow polydispersities (1.50 < Mw/Mn < 4.50), and are highly soluble in organic solvents. The molecular weights of two of the polymers increase with monomer concentration. The polymers are thermally stable (500 °C under N2) and have glass transition temperatures ranging from 135 to 231 °C. |