Synthesis and properties of new organosoluble alkoxylated naphthalene-based novolacs preparaed by addition-condensation of mono- or di-alkoxynaphthalene with formaldehyde

The preparation of new alkoxylated naphthalene-based novolacs [poly(naphtlhylenemethylene)s] by acid-catalyzed addition-condensation of mono- or di-methoxynaphthalene with formaldehyde is described in this paper. The polymerization of 2-methoxynaphthelene (1) with an equimolar amount of formaldehyde proceeded homogeneously to give the polymer 2 (M,, 3100, M-w/M-n 1.7) in good yield. The FT-IR, H-1 NMR and C-13 NMR spectra suggest that 2 might have a naphthylene- methylene unit and approximately linear polymer backbones. In contrast, in the case of 1,5-dimethoxynaphthalene (3a) as a monomer. the obtained polymer (4a) (M-n 1900, M-w/M-n 2.3) was a branched r. From TGA. T-10 (temperature at 10% loss in weight) indexes of the polymers 2 and 4a were estimated to be 402 and 359 degrees C, respectively. These results indicate that the alkoxylated naphthalene-based novolacs have good thermal stability.