Enzyme Model-catalyzed Oxidative Copolymerization of Phenol while Continuously Adding an Endcap to Multi-branched Poly(phenylene oxide) Showing Low Dielectric Constant

Oxidative copolymerization of phenol while continuously adding a small amount of 4-phenylphenol as an endcap was performed by using an enzyme model catalyst, followed by reprecipitation. Consequently, multi-branched poly(phenylene oxide)s were obtained with number-averaged molecular weights of 18,000–28,000, showing both high thermal stability beyond 470 °C and low dielectric constant of 2.43 @ 10 GHz.