5th Annual WSU Celebration of Research and Creative Scholarship
 
Online Book of Abtracts

 

Poster #45 - Synthesis of Novel Fluorinated Poly(aryl ether)s by Step Growth Polymerization of  Bis-(4-fluorophenyl)-difluoromethane.

Patrick Homyak

Faculty Co-author: Dr. Robert Kopitzke

Poly(aryl ether)s (PAEs) are of considerable interest due to their superior chemical, mechanical and electrical properties.  However, research involving PAEs that contain fluoro groups in the backbone of the polymer has been limited. In this research, novel fluorinated PAEs were synthesized from Bis-(4-fluorophenyl)-difluoromethane (BFPDF) and bisphenol A derivatives.  Recent work it has shown that the -(CF2)- group in BFPDF can sufficiently activate the molecule for nucleophilic aromatic substitution via the SNAr mechanism.  The polymerization was run under a variety of conditions in order to maximize molecular weight.  Standard methods were used to characterize the resulting polymer samples.