Aromatic polyanhydrides, a new class of high melting fiber‐forming polymers

Contrary to the aliphatic polyanhydrides prepared by Carothers, polyanhydrides containing aromatic nuclei in the main chain possess high melting points and good hydrolytic stability. A number of different aromatic polyanhydrides were prepared. Their preparation and properties, such as fiber‐forming properties, melting points, glass transition temperatures, and crystallinity, are described. An effort has been made to correlate some selected physical properties, such as melting points and crystallizability, with the chemical structure of the particular polyanhydride. The influence of p ‐phenylene, m ‐phenylene, carbonyl, ether, thioether groups, etc. on the properties of the polymers is discussed.