Novel organosoluble fluorinated polyimides derived from 1,6-bis(4-amino-2-trifluoromethylphenoxy)naphthalene and aromatic dianhydrides

A novel trifluoromethyl-substituted bis(ether amine) monomer, 1,6-bis(4-amino-2-trifluoromethylphenoxy)naphthalene, was prepared through the nucleophilic substitution reaction of 2-chloro-5-nitrobenzotrifluoride and 1,6-dihydroxynaphthalene in the presence of potassium carbonate in dimethyl sulfoxide, followed by catalytic reduction with hydrazine and Pd/C in ethanol. A series of new fluorinated polyimides were synthesized from the diamine with various commercially available aromatic tetracarboxylic dianhydrides via a conventional two-stage process with the thermal or chemical imidization of the poly(amic acid) precursors. Most of the polyimides obtained from both routes were soluble in many organic solvents such as N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone and N,N-dimethylacetamide. All the polyimides could afford transparent, flexible, and strong films with low moisture absorptions of 0.12–0.52% and low dielectric constants of 2.75–3.13 at 10 kHz. Thin films of these polyimides showed an UV–vis absorption cutoff wavelength at 376–428 nm, and those of polyimides from 4,4′-oxydiphthalic dianhydride (ODPA) and 2,2-bis(3,4-dicarboxyphenyl)hexafluoropropane dianhydride (6FDA) were essentially colorless. The polyimides exhibited excellent thermal stability, with decomposition temperatures (at 10% weight loss) above 530 °C in both air and nitrogen atmospheres and glass transition temperatures (Tgs) in the range of 241–298 °C. For a comparative study, some properties of the present fluorinated polyimides were compared with those of structurally related ones prepared from 1,6-bis(4-aminophenoxy)naphthalene and 2,6-bis(4-amino-2-trifluoromethylphenoxy)naphthalene.