Novel preparation of poly(arylene ether sulfone amide)s via supported palladium-catalyzed carbonylative polymerization

Two new aromatic diiodides with ether–sulfone linkages were synthesized via a one-step procedure. A series of poly(arylene ether sulfone amide)s were synthesized by a supported palladium-catalyzed polycondensation of aromatic diiodides having ether–sulfone linkages, aromatic diamines, and CO. Polycondensation reactions were conducted in N,N-dimethylacetamide using a magnetic nanoparticles-bound palladium(II) complex [Fe3O4@SiO2-2P-PdCl2] as the catalyst and 1,8-diazabicycle[5,4,0]-7-undecene as the base at 120 °C, yielding poly(arylene ether sulfone amide)s having inherent viscosities of 0.43–0.77 dL/g. The resulting polymers were soluble in polar aprotic solvents and showed glass transition temperatures in the 204–265 °C range, with 10% weight losses occurring at temperatures above 456 °C in nitrogen. Most of the polymers afforded transparent and tough films by solution-casting with tensile strengths of 71.8–82.2 MPa, Young’s moduli of 1.77–2.35 GPa, and elongations at break of 9.3–13.4%. More importantly, this supported palladium catalyst can facilely be separated from the product by simply using an external magnetic field and reused at least seven times with almost consistent activity.