Curing reactions of bismaleimide resins catalyzed by triphenylphosphine. High resolution solid-state 13C NMR study

The curing reactions of bismaleimide resins consisted of N,N'-4,4'-diphenylmethanebismaleimide (BMI) and o,o'-diallylbisphenol-A (DABA) in the presence of triphenylphosphine (TPP) as a catalyst were investigated. DSC measurements showed that the catalytic effect of TPP on the curing reaction of BMI was more in the presence of DABA than in its absence. In order to explore this curing reaction, N-phenylmaleimide (PMI) and o-allylphenol (AP) were selected as model compounds. The products of the PMI/TPP system were oligomers and polymers of PMI, whereas the main product of the PMI/AP/TPP system was the PMI trimer which had the five-membered ring formed via the phosphonium ylide intermediate. In these model reactions, 13C NMR was found to be useful to distinguish between trimerization and polymerization of PMI. On the basis of the results of the model reactions, the curing reactions of bismaleimide resins were investigated by high resolution solid state 13C NMR techniques. In the BMI/TPP system, maleimides polymerize above 175degC, but the polymerization does not proceed at 120degC. On the other hand, maleimides trimerize above 120degC in the presence of DABA and TPP. The mechanism of the trimerization is briefly discussed. (author)