Investigation on the cross-linking reaction of poly(o-,m-)methylanilines

Summary form only given. The heat-treatment of poly(o-,m-)methylanilines in their base form was followed by IR, UV-Vis, TG, DSC and solubility measurements. TG, DSC and solubility measurements demonstrated that the heat-treatment of poly(o-,m-)methylanifines under nitrogen led to the occurence of the cross-linking reaction before the decomposition of polymeric backbone. IR and UV-Vis spectra revealed that the inter chain cross-linking reaction occures at nitrogen atoms on quinoid rings and the substitution pattern of aromatic rings remained almost unchanged. Based on the structure of the cross-linked polymer and EHMO-CO calculation, a possible cross-linking mechanism was proposed.