Patent ID: 7173103

Claim:
A process for preparing polymers, which comprises polymerizing in a reaction mixture (a) at least an aromatic monomer having at least two boron derivative functional groups selected from the group consisting of boronic acid groups, boronic ester groups, and borane groups, and at least an aromatic monomer having at least two reactive halide functional groups; or (b) at least an aromatic monomer having one reactive halide functional group and one boron derivative functional group selected from the group consisting of boronic acid groups, boronic ester groups, and borane groups, wherein the reaction mixture comprises a catalytic amount of a catalyst suitable for catalyzing the polymerization of the aromatic monomers, and a base in an amount sufficient to convert the boron derivative functional groups into â€”BX 3 -anionic groups, wherein X is independently selected from the group consisting of F and OH, and said catalyst comprises a source of palladium in the form of palladium (II) and a source of a phosphine characterized in that at least one substituent on said phosphine is an ortho substituted aryl group.