SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION, AND STUDIES OF HEAT-RESISTANT POLY(ETHERBENZIMIDAZOLE)S

The present necessity to use heat-resistant materials in electronics j ustified the scientific interest in different heterocyclic polymers. T his paper is especially concerned with the preparation of novel heat-r esistant materials having benzimidazole moieties in the main chain. Th e poly(ether benzimidazole)s were prepared by the nucleophilic displac ement reaction of 1,6-hexanediol with activated aliphatic and aromatic bis(nitrobenzimidazole) compounds in N-methylpyrrolidone at 190 degre es C in the presence of anhydrous potassium carbonate. All polybenzimi dazoles were obtained in high-to-quantitative yields and with varying molecular weights (inherent viscosities from 0.24 to 0.77 dL/g), which in some cases were in the fiber-forming range. The polymers exhibited glass transition temperatures ranging from 150 to 300 degrees C.