Microwave-assisted synthesis of tetrasubstituted aryl imidazole based polymers via cascade polycondensation process

•Synthesis of new macromolecular structures: poly(tetrasubstituted aryl imidazole)s.•Microwave-assisted four-component polycondensation reaction.•Polymer chain's growth by formation of heteroaromatic rings by a cascade reaction.•Innovative concept for the synthesis of heteroaromatic polymer architectures.

Poly(Tetrasubstituted Aryl Imidazole)s (PTAIs), a new class of poly(heteroaromatic) polymers was prepared via a cascade polycondensation process, under microwave irradiation. These polymers were obtained by the tetrasubstituted aryl imidazole ring formation involving bis(aryl α-diketone)s, bis(arylaldehyde)s, mono(arylamine)s and ammonium acetate. The polymerization performed under microwave irradiation allowed to get high molecular weight PTAIs in very short reaction times. The chemical structure of these PTAIs was confirmed by NMR spectroscopy. Thermogravimetric analyses (TGA) showed a very good grade of thermal stability of these polymers. Glass transition temperatures (Tg) of PTAIs ranging from 155 °C to 265 °C were determined by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC).

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