Polymerization mechanism of 4-APN and a new catalyst for phthalonitrile resin polymerization.

The widely used catalysts for phthalonitrile (PN) resin polymerization are aromatic compounds containing -NH because of their high catalytic performances. However, the catalytic mechanisms of these catalysts are not very clear. To understand the mechanisms of them, the widely used autocatalytic catalyst 4-(4-aminophenoxy)-phthalonitrile (4-APN) was studied in this paper.