Macrocycles.: 18.: The role of cyclization in syntheses of poly(ether-sulfone)s

Poly(ether-sulfone)s having an identical backbone were prepared by four different methods. First, silylated bisphenol A (BSBA) was polycondensed with 4,4'-difluorodiphenyl sulfone (DFDPS) and K2CO3 in N-methylpyrrolidone with variation of the temperature. Second, analogous polycondensation were conducted using CsF as catalyst (and no K2CO3). Third, CsF-catalyzed polycondensations BSBA and DFDPS were conducted in bulk up to 290 degreesC. Fourth, free bisphenol was polycondensed with DFDPS or 4,4'-dichlorodiphenyl sulfone and K2CO3 in DMSO with azeotropic removal of water. MALDI-TOF mass spectroscopy revealed that the first method mainly yielded cyclic poly(ether-sulfone)s which were detected up to masses around 13 000 Da. These and other results suggest that these polycondensations take a kinetically kontrolled course at tempeatures less than or equal to 145 degreesC. This interpretation is also valid for the fourth method where high yields of cycles were obtained with DFDPS. With the less reactive 4,4'-dichlorodiphenyl sulfone lower conversions, lower molecular weights and lower fractions of cycles were found. In contrast to KF (resulting from K2CO3) CsF cleaves the poly(ether sulfone) backbone at temperatures > 145 degreesC. Smaller amounts of smaller cycles were found in these CsF-catalyzed polycondensations which were in this case the result of thermodynamically controlled "back-biting degradation".