Synthesis and characterization of novel poly(arylene ether)s based on 9,10‐bis‐(4‐fluoro‐3‐trifluoromethylphenyl) anthracene and 2,7‐bis‐(4‐fluoro‐3‐trifluoromethylphenyl) fluorene

Two new bisfluoro monomers 9,10‐bis‐(4‐fluoro‐3‐trifluoromethylphenyl) anthracene and 2,7‐bis‐(4‐fluoro‐3‐trifluoromethylphenyl) fluorene have been synthesized by the cross‐coupling reaction of 2‐fluoro‐3‐trifluoromethyl phenyl boronic acid with 9,10‐dibromo anthracene and 2,7‐dibromo fluorine, respectively. These two bisfluoro compounds were used to prepare several poly(arylene ether)s by aromatic nucleophilic displacement of fluorine with various bisphenols; such as bisphenol‐A, bisphenol‐6F, bishydroxy biphenyl, and 9,9‐bis‐(4‐hydroxyphenyl)‐fluorene. The products obtained by displacement of the fluorine atoms exhibits weight‐average molar masses up to 1.5 ×10⁵ g mol^?1 and number average molecular weight up to 6.8 × 10⁴ g mol^?1 in GPC. These poly(arylene ether)s show very high thermal stability even up to 490°C for 5% weight loss occurring at this temperature in TGA in synthetic air and showed glass transition temperature observed up to 310°C. All the polymers are soluble in a wide range of organic solvents, e.g., CHCl₃, THF, NMP, and DMF. Films cast from DMF solution are brittle in nature. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2007