Aromatic polyketone is one of the most highly performed super engineer
ing plastics. With the progress of clarification of the exact feature
of structure and thermal behavior of the polymers, a lot of novel arom
atic polyketones have appeared and various synthetic approaches were u
ndertaken in these years. The recent advances of polyketones are revie
wed from synthetic interests. (1) New synthetic reactions, introductio
n and removal of tentative auxiliary groups in order to maintain the f
lexibility of polymer chain during chain elongation reaction, and uses
of transition metals as a highly effective catalyst were developed fo
r achievement of high molecular-weight polymer skeleton. (2) Fundament
al structural perturbation was undertaken by introduction of crankshaf
t rings and additional conjugated moieties. (3) Introduction of side g
roups and their chemical transformation were undertaken to perform new
structures and advanced properties. (4) Fine syntheses and reactions
of designed oligomers and polymer precursors both for model studies an
d reactive oligo/polyketones were also investigated. The reports in 19
99 and later were mainly surveyed.