POLY(ARYL ETHER OXADIAZOLES)

A general method for the preparation of poly(aryl ether oxadiazoles) has been developed where the generation of an aryl ether linkage was the polymer-forming reaction. Two synthetic approaches were investigated based on either an oxadiazole-activated halo displacement with phenoxides or a hydrazide-activated halo-displacement with phenoxides. The hydrazide may be subsequently thermally cyclodehydrated to the oxadiazole heterocyclic. In each case, the negative charge developed in the transition state could be stabilized through a Meisenheimer Complex, analogous to conventional activating groups (e.g., sulfone and ketone), and the electron affinity, as judged by H-1 NMR, was comparable to that of other activating groups. An appropriately substituted diarylfluoro oxadiazole was prepared and polymerized with various bisphenols in an NMP/CHP solvent mixture in the presence of K2CO3. High molecular weight poly(aryl ether oxadiazoles) were synthesized with viscosities ranging from 0.44 to 0.76 dL/g and Tg's in the 200-degrees-C range. Conversely, the hydrazide activated halo-displacement as a means of preparing poly(aryl ether hydrazides) was not as successful, since it appears that the hydrazide was of sufficient acidity to form a salt with K2CO3 preventing solubility and polymerization.