| Abstract: | The interfacial polycondensation of bisphenol A with isophthaloyl chloride and terephthaloyl chloride in dichloromethane with triethylbenzylammonium chloride as the catalyst was described. A well-defined two-phase system had been observed, so the concentration of bisphenolate in the aqueous phase could be determined by UV spectrometer. The conversion was found to increase rapidly with reaction time, but the rate of increase in molecular weight was slow. At the initial stage with conversion up to 95%, the reaction proceeded similarly to that of solution polycon-densation because the synthesized polyarylate could be dissolved in dichloromethane, and a polymer with a low molecular weight resulted. At the final stage of the reaction, the molecular weight was increased to a very high value due to the local concentration effect. The mole ratio of bisphenol A to diacid chlorides was found to affect the molecular weight very much. In the case of a mole ratio less than 1, the reaction remained in the initial stage mostly, and the molecular weight was low. However, for a mole ratio greater than 1, polyarylate with a very high molecular weight could be obtained because the local concentration effect was much more significant owing to the high concentration of bisphenolate that remained in the aqueous phase at the final stage. |
