Synthesis of a novel poly(binaphthylene ether) with a low dielectric constant

A novel thermally stable and low dielectric poly(binaphthylene ether) (2) has been developed. Polymer 2 was easily prepared by oxidative coupling polymerization of 2,2'-bis(1-naphthyloxy)-1,1'-binaphthyl (1) with FeCl3 as an oxidant. This polymerization produced regiocontrolled polymer 2 with a number-average molecular weight of 14 000 Da and a molecular weight distribution of 3.3. The 5% weight loss and glass transition temperatures of polymer 2 were 520 and 301 degreesC, respectively. The dielectric constant of polymer 2 at 1 MHz was directly measured from the capacitance as 2.50. The modulus and hardness of polymer 2 were determined as 9.8 and 0.42 GPa.