Soluble high- Tg polyetherimides with good flame retardancy based on an asymmetric phosphinated etherdiamine.

This study focuses on preparing soluble, high- Tg polyetherimides (PEIs) with good flame retardancy. To achieve this goal, a phosphinated aminophenol, 1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-1-(4-aminophenyl)-1-(6-oxido-6H-dibenz〈c,e〉〈1,2〉oxaphosphorin-6-yl)ethane ( 1), was prepared. Then, an asymmetric etherdiamine, 1-(4-(4-aminophenoxy)phenyl)-1-(4-aminophenyl)-1-(6-oxido-6H-dibenz〈c,e〉〈1,2〉oxaphosphorin-6-yl)ethane ( 3), was prepared from the nucleophilic substitution of ( 1) with 4-chloronitrobenzene, followed by catalytic hydrogenation. Light colored, tough, and foldable PEIs ( 5) with good thermal stability, organo-solubility, and good flame retardancy were synthesized from the condensation of ( 3) with various aromatic dianhydrides in N, N-dimethylacetamide, followed by thermal imidization. Properties of the resulting PEIs were evaluated and compared with those of symmetric PEIs ( 5′) and polyimides ( 5″). The structure-property relationships were discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]