PERFLUOROCYCLOBUTANE AROMATIC ETHER POLYMERS - III - SYNTHESIS AND THERMAL-STABILITY OF A THERMOSET POLYMER CONTAINING TRIPHENYLPHOSPHINE OXIDE

The preparation of a novel triaryl phosphine oxide thermoset polymer c ontaining the perfluorocyclobutane linkage is described. The synthetic methodology involves the formation of a Grignard reagent from 4-bromo trifluorovinyloxybenzene and reaction with phosphorous trichloride to form the triaryl phosphine trifluorovinyl ether monomer. Oxidation of the phosphine monomer with hydrogen peroxide in ethanol provides quant itative conversion of the phosphine to the phosphine oxide. Analysis o f the thermal decomposition of the resulting polymer in both nitrogen and air indicates improvement in thermal and thermal/oxidative stabili ty with respect to the previously reported polymer prepared from 1,1,1 -tris(4-trifluorovinyloxy)phenyl ethane. Differences in thermal and th ermal/oxidative performance still exist, indicating that oxidative pro cesses contribute to the polymer decomposition in air. (C) 1998 John W iley & Sons, Inc.