Poly(arylene ether)s (PAEs) are a versatile class of thermoplastic materials with commercial importance. Currently their synthesis relies predominantly on either nucleophilic or electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions, severely limiting the scope of available PAEs. Herein, we report the copper(II)-catalyzed polycondensation of electronically unactivated aryl bromides with bisphenols to afford a wide range of new PAEs. These PAEs are characterized by their thermal and mechanical properties. Functional PAEs were produced that have reversible acid- and redox-triggered chromophores incorporated into the backbone, which illustrates the utility of these methods.

中文翻译：

---

聚芳基醚 （Cu（II） 催化


聚芳基醚 （PAE） 是一类具有商业重要性的多功能热塑性材料。目前，它们的合成主要依赖于亲核或亲电芳香族取代反应，严重限制了可用 PAE 的范围。在本文中，我们报道了铜 （II） 催化的电子未活化芳基溴与双酚的缩聚反应，从而得到广泛的新型 PAE。这些 PAE 的特点是它们的热性能和机械性能。产生的功能性 PAE 具有可逆的酸和氧化还原触发的发色团掺入主链中，这说明了这些方法的实用性。