Patent ID: 8288501

Claim:
A method for obtaining a quinone coupled polyphenylene ether, comprising: preparing a polymerization solution comprising 100 parts by mass in total of 10 to 25 parts by mass of a phenolic compound (M) and 75 to 90 parts by mass of an aromatic solvent (A), and 0.1 to 10 parts by mass of a catalyst (C) comprising a metal salt, and as a component 0.001 to 0.004 part by weight of an ion catalyst (D) is added to the polymerization solution; passing an oxygen-containing gas through the polymerization solution to oxidatively polymerize the phenolic compound (M); mixing a chelating agent aqueous solution with the polymerization solution to terminate the polymerization; and thereafter, temperature of the polymerization solution is set at 60 to 120Â° C., and the temperature is maintained for 20 min to 150 min to disposal by a quinone-coupling, wherein a diphenoquinone compound and a polyphenylene ether are allowed to react to dispose the diphenoquinone compound and to produce a quinone coupled polyphenylene ether; subjecting the polymerization solution to a liquid-liquid separation to separate a water phase; then the polymerization solution is subjected to precipitation into a solvent such as methanol, which does not dissolve the quinone coupled polyphenylene ether; and the resulting precipitate is filtered and dried to obtain the quinone coupled polyphenylene ether.