Synthesis of a novel epoxy resin containing pyrene moiety and thermal properties of its cured polymer with phenol novolac

A new epoxy resin containing the pyrene moiety in the backbone (3) was synthesized and confirmed by gel permeation chromatography and field-desorption mass spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy. In addition, to evaluate the influence of the pyrene moiety on the structure, epoxy resins having an anthrylene moiety (5) and having a phenylene moiety (7) were synthesized. The cured polymer obtained through the curing reaction between 3 and phenol novolac was used for making a comparison of its thermal properties with those obtained from 5, 7, and bisphenol-A (4,4′-isopropylidenediphenyl)-type epoxy resin (Bis-EA). The cured polymer obtained from 3 showed a higher glass transition temperature, lower coefficient of linear thermal expansion, lower moisture absorption, and markedly higher anaerobic char yield at 700°C of 37.6 wt %, which might be attributed to the higher aromaticity of 3 containing the pyrene moiety. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 75: 528–535, 2000