| Novel polyphenylacetylene derivatives P1 and P2， substituted by dialkylanilino-appended alkynes， were synthesized by the Rh-catalyzed polymerization of the corresponding phenylacetylene derivatives 1 and 2， respectively. The side chain alkynes， activated by the dialkylanilino-donor， were quantitatively postfunctionalized by an atom-economic tetracyanoethylene (TCNE) addition reaction， resulting in P3 and P4 bearing four nitrile groups in the repeat unit. All the obtained polymers were thermally stable with a Td5% exceeding 330 oC， and most of them showed good film formation capabilities. The polymer membranes displayed a significant decrease in the oxygen permeability after the postfucntionalization. This change was most likely due to the enhanced intermolecular interactions between the nitrile moieties， which was supported by a clear change in the surface morphology measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM). |
