Synthesis of poly(arylene ether phenylquinoxalines)

Poly(phenylquinoxalines), PPQ is generally synthesized through the condensation of an aromatic bis(o-diamine) with a bis(phenyl-α-dicarbonyl) compound. As another means of preparing the quinoxaline-based analogue of the poly(ether-imides), the authors investigated PPQ synthesis through a halo displacement approach. The results demonstrate that quinoxaline-based poly(arylene ethers) can be synthesized via a halo displacement polymerization, where the fused pyrazine ring is the activating group. The polymerization provides a general method for preparing arylene ether-based PPQs where the structure of the arylene ether moiety is readily controlled by varying the bisphenol used analogous to the poly(ether-imide) synthesis. Moreover, heterocyclic activated nucleophilic chemistry should prove effective with monomers derived from other ring systems, providing a general synthetic methodology to high temperature, high Tg arylene ether-heterocyclic polymers.