NEW POLYMER SYNTHESES .77. TELECHELIC OLIGO(ETHER KETONES)S AND POLY(ETHER KETONE)S

Telechelic poly(ether ketone)s were prepared by bulk polycondensations of 4'-fluoro-4- (trimethylsiloxy)benzophenone and 4'-fluoro-2-methyl-4-(trimethylsiloxy)ben and by cocondensation with 4'-fluoro-4-(trimethylsiloxy)diphenyl sulfone. These A-B type monomers were cocondensed with activated aromatic difluoro compounds or a silylated diphenol containing a relatively thermostable aliphatic group (CH2 or CH3). This synthetic approach has the following three advantages: first, the resulting telechelic poly(ether ketone)s possess two identical functional end groups. Second, the average degree of polymerization (DP) can be controlled by variation of the monomer/comonomer ratio. Third, the DPs of the isolated poly(ether ketone)s can be calculated from the H-1 NMR signals of the aliphatic and aromatic protons. The telechelic poly(ether ketone)s were also characterized by elemental analyses, inherent viscosities, DSC measurements, and (in individual cases) C-13 NMR spectroscopy.