Preparation of polyenaryloxynitriles from dicyanovinyl chloride and diphenol derivatives in the presence of DABCO

The kinetic study of the enaryloxynitriles via the nucleophilic vinylic sub stitution reaction of various phenol derivatives with 1-chloro-1-phenyl-2,2 -dicyanoethene (1) was conducted in the presence of 1,4-diazabicyclo[2,2,2] octane (DABCO). Nucleophilic vinylic substitution of phenol derivatives wit h electrophilic olefins carrying sluggish leaving group involves a third-or der reaction. The reaction was applied to solution polymerization of diphen ol derivatives with p-bis(1-chrolo-2,2-dicyanovinyl)benzene (2), which yiel ded various poly-enaryloxynitriles with moderate molecular weight.