Patent ID: 7638566

Claim:
A composition, comprising: at least 15 weight percent of a bifunctional poly(arylene ether) having an intrinsic viscosity of about 0.03 to 0.12 deciliter per gram measured in chloroform at 25° C.; wherein the bifunctional poly(arylene ether) has the structure wherein Q 1 and Q 2 are identical within each phenylene ether unit and selected from the group consisting of halogen, unsubstituted or substituted C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyl with the proviso that the hydrocarbyl group is not tertiary hydrocarbyl, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbylthio, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyloxy, and C 2 -C 12 halohydrocarbyloxy wherein at least two carbon atoms separate the halogen and oxygen atoms; each occurrence of Q 3 and Q 4 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen, unsubstituted or substituted C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyl with the proviso that the hydrocarbyl group is not tertiary hydrocarbyl, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbylthio, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyloxy, and C 2 -C 12 halohydrocarbyloxy wherein at least two carbon atoms separate the halogen and oxygen atoms; each occurrence of Q 5 and Q 6 is independently selected from the group consisting of halogen, unsubstituted or substituted C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyl with the proviso that the hydrocarbyl group is not tertiary hydrocarbyl, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbylthio, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyloxy, and C 2 -C 12 halohydrocarbyloxy wherein at least two carbon atoms separate the halogen and oxygen atoms; x and y are independently 0 to about 30 with the proviso that the sum of x and y is at least 2; and L has the structure wherein each occurrence of R 1 and R 2 and R 3 and R 4 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen, unsubstituted or substituted C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyl with the proviso that the hydrocarbyl group is not tertiary hydrocarbyl, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbylthio, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyloxy, and C 2 -C 12 halohydrocarbyloxy wherein at least two carbon atoms separate the halogen and oxygen atoms; z is 0 or 1; and Y has a structure selected from the group consisting of wherein each occurrence of R 5 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyl, and each occurrence of R 6 and R 7 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyl, and C 1 -C 6 hydrocarbylene wherein R 6 and R 7 collectively form a C 4 -C 12 alkylene group; and at least 20 weight percent of a solvent selected from the group consisting of C 3 -C 8 ketones, C 4 -C 8 N,N-dialkylamides, C 4 -C 16 dialkyl ethers, C 3 -C 6 alkyl alkanoates, C 2 -C 6 alkyl cyanides, and mixtures thereof; wherein the bifunctional poly(arylene ether) has a solubility in the composition of at least 100 grams per kilogram of composition at 23° C.; wherein the composition is substantially free of C 1 -C 6 alkanols, alkali metal ions, and metal ions effective for the catalysis of oxidative polymerization of phenols; and wherein all weight percents are based on the total weight of the composition.