A new poly(arylene ether sulfone) with pendent trifluoromethyl groups

A novel poly(arylene ether sulfone) has been prepared by nucleophilic displacement of the fluorine atoms from a 2-perfluoro activated bisfluoro monomer with 4,4-dihydroxydiphenyl sulfone. The resulting polymer exhibits weight average molar mass 1.84 x 10(4) g mol(-1) in GPC. The polymer shows very good thermal stability, only 10% weight loss occurred at 522 degreesC in TGA under synthetic air and has a glass transition (T-g) at 203 degreesC in DSC. The polymer is soluble in a wide range of organic solvents e.g. CHCl3, THF, NMP, DMF, Toluene, etc. and insoluble in DMSO and acetone. The polymer structure has been well characterized by IR, H-1, C-13, F-19 -NMR spectroscopy and elemental analysis.