Polymerization of N‐phenylmaleimide with a rare‐earth coordination catalyst

The polymerization of N‐phenylmaleimide was carried out with the binary rare‐earth coordination catalyst lanthanum phosphonate La(P₅₀₇)]–trisobutyl aluminum Al(i‐Bu)₃] in toluene at 60°C. The dependence of the polymerization on the polymerization time, the molar ratio of Al(i‐Bu)₃ to La(P₅₀₇), and the concentration of the catalyst were studied. The structures of the resultant polymer were characterized with ¹H‐NMR, ¹³C‐NMR, and Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry, and the thermal properties of the polymer were measured with thermogravimetric analysis. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 96: 979–982, 2005