Functionalized poly(arylene ether) composition and method

1. A curable composition, comprising:

a difunctionalized poly(arylene ether) having an intrinsic viscosity of 0.05 to 0.30 deciliter per gram at 25° C.; wherein the difunctionalized poly(arylene ether) has the structure

wherein each occurrence of Q 1 is independently selected from the group consisting of halogen, primary or secondary C 1 -C 12 alkyl, C 2 -C 12 alkenyl, C 2 -C 12 alkynyl, C 1 -C 12 aminoalkyl, C 1 -C 12 hydroxyalkyl, phenyl, C 1 -C 12 haloalkyl, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyloxy, and C 2 -C 12 halohydrocarbyloxy wherein at least two carbon atoms separate the halogen and oxygen atoms; each occurrence of Q 2 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen, primary or secondary C 1 -C 12 alkyl, C 2 -C 12 alkenyl, C 2 -C 12 alkynyl, C 1 -C 12 aminoalkyl, C 1 -C 12 hydroxyalkyl, phenyl, C 1 -C 12 haloalkyl, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyloxy, and C 2 -C 12 halohydrocarbyloxy wherein at least two carbon atoms separate the halogen and oxygen atoms; each occurrence of x is independently 1 to 100;

each occurrence of R 2 -R 4 is independently hydrogen or C 1 -C 18 hydrocarbyl; and L has the structure

wherein each occurrence of R 5 and R 6 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen, primary or secondary C 1 -C 12 alkyl, C 2 -C 12 alkenyl, C 2 -C 12 alkynyl, C 1 -C 12 aminoalkyl, C 1 -C 12 hydroxyalkyl, phenyl, C 1 -C 12 haloalkyl, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyloxy, and C 2 -C 12 halohydrocarbyloxy wherein at least two carbon atoms separate the halogen and oxygen atoms; and Y has the structure

wherein each occurrence of R 8 and R 9 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyl; and

an olefinically unsaturated monomer.

2. The curable composition of claim 1 , wherein the difunctionalized poly(arylene ether) has the structure

wherein Q 1 is methyl; each occurrence of Q 2 is independently hydrogen or methyl; each occurrence of R 2 is independently hydrogen or methyl; R 3 and R 4 are hydrogen; each occurrence of R 5 and R 6 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen, primary or secondary C 1 -C 12 alkyl, C 2 -C 12 alkenyl, C 2 -C 12 alkynyl, C 1 -C 12 aminoalkyl, C 1 -C 12 hydroxyalkyl, phenyl, C 1 -C 12 haloalkyl, C 1 -C 12 hydrocarbyloxy, and C 2 -C 12 halohydrocarbyloxy wherein at least two carbon atoms separate the halogen and oxygen atoms; R 8 and R 9 are independently hydrogen or C 1 -C 6 hydrocarbyl; and each occurrence of x is 1 to 100.

3. The curable composition of claim 1 , wherein the difunctionalized poly(arylene ether) has the structure

wherein each occurrence of x is 1 to 100.

4. The curable composition of claim 1 , wherein the difunctionalized poly(arylene ether) is the product of oxidative copolymerization of a monohydric phenol and a dihydric phenol.

5. The curable composition of claim 4 , wherein the monohydric phenol is selected from the group consisting of 2,6-dimethylphenol, 2,3,6-trimethylphenol, and mixtures thereof; and wherein the dihydric phenol is selected from the group consisting of 1,1-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethane, 2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)propane 2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)butane, 2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)octane, 1,1-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)propane, 1,1-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)-n-butane, bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)phenylmethane, 2,2-bis(4-hydroxy-1-methylphenyl)propane, 1,1-bis(4-hydroxy-t-butylphenyl) propane, 2,2-bis(4-hydroxy-2,6-dimethylphenyl)propane, 2,2-bis(4-hydroxy-3-bromophenyl)propane, and mixtures thereof.

6. The curable composition of claim 1 , wherein the difunctionalized poly(arylene ether) has an intrinsic viscosity of 0.08 to 0.20 deciliters per gram.

7. The curable composition of claim 1 , wherein the difunctionalized poly(arylene ether) has a number average molecular weight of 1,000 to 10,000 atomic mass units (AMU), with the provisos that less than 10 weight percent of the difunctionalized poly(arylene ether) has a number average molecular weight less than 500 AMU, and less than 25 weight percent of the difunctionalized poly(arylene ether) has a number average molecular weight less than 1,000 AMU.

8. The curable composition of claim 1 , wherein the difunctionalized poly(arylene ether) has a number average molecular weight of at least 10,000 AMU, with the provisos that less than 2 weight percent of the difunctionalized poly(arylene ether) has a number average molecular weight less than 500 AMU, and less than 5 weight percent of the difunctionalized poly(arylene ether) has a number average molecular weight less than 1,000 AMU.

9. The curable composition of claim 1 , wherein the olefinically unsaturated monomer is selected from the group consisting of alkenyl aromatic monomers, allylic monomers, acryloyl monomers, vinyl ethers, maleimides, and mixtures thereof.

10. The curable composition of claim 1 , wherein the olefinically unsaturated monomer comprises an acryloyl monomer having at least two acryloyl moieties.

11. The curable composition of claim 1 , wherein the olefinically unsaturated monomer comprises an acryloyl monomer selected from the group consisting of trimethylolpropane tri(meth)acrylate,1,6-hexanediol di(meth)acrylate, neopentyl glycol di(meth)acrylate, ethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate, propylene glycol di(meth)acrylate, cyclohexanedimethanol di(meth)acrylate, butanediol di(meth)acrylate, diethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate, triethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate, isobornyl (meth)acrylate, methyl (meth)acrylate, methacryloxypropyl trimethoxysilane, ethoxylated (2) bisphenol A di(meth)acrylate, and mixtures thereof.

12. The curable composition of claim 1 , wherein the olefinically unsaturated monomer comprises cyclohexanedimethanol di(meth)acrylate.

13. The curable composition of claim 1 , comprising 5 to 90 parts by weight of the difunctionalized poly(arylene ether) and 10 to 95 parts by weight of the olefinically unsaturated monomer per 100 parts by weight total of the difunctionalized poly(arylene ether) and the olefinically unsaturated monomer.

14. The curable composition of claim 1 , further comprising an adhesion promoter selected from the group consisting of metal (meth)acrylate salts, combinations of an aromatic epoxy compound and an aromatic amine, copolymers of a vinyl aromatic compound and an α,β-unsaturated cyclic anhydride, partially (meth)acrylated epoxy compounds, and mixtures thereof.

15. The curable composition of claim 14 , wherein the adhesion promoter comprises a styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer.

16. The curable composition of claim 1 ,

wherein the difunctionalized poly(arylene ether) has an intrinsic viscosity of 0.08 to 0.25 deciliter per gram at 25° C.;

wherein the olefinically unsaturated monomer comprises an acryloyl monomer comprising at least two acryloyl moieties; and

wherein the curable composition further comprises a cure initiator selected from the group consisting of benzoyl peroxide, dicumyl peroxide, methyl ethyl ketone peroxide, lauryl peroxide, cyclohexanone peroxide, t-butyl hydroperoxide, t-butyl benzene hydroperoxide, t-butyl peroctoate, 2,5-dimethylhexane-2,5-dihydroperoxide, 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-di(t-butylperoxy)-hex-3-yne, di-t-butylperoxide, t-butylcumyl peroxide, α,α′-bis(t-butylperoxy-m-isopropyl)benzene, 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-di (t-butylperoxy) hexane, di(t-butylperoxy) isophthalate, t-butylperoxy benzoate, 2,2-bis(t-butylperoxy)butane, 2,2-bis(t-butylperoxy)octane, 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-di(benzoylperoxy)hexane, di(trimethylsilyl)peroxide, trimethylsilylphenyltriphenylsilyl peroxide, and mixtures thereof.

17. The curable composition of claim 1 ,

wherein the curable composition comprises 5 to 90 parts by weight of the difunctionalized poly(arylene ether);

wherein the difunctionalized poly(arylene ether) has an intrinsic viscosity of 0.08 to 0.20 deciliter per gram at 25° C.;

wherein the difunctionalized poly(arylene ether) has the structure

wherein each occurrence of x is 1 to 50;

wherein the curable composition comprises 5 to 90 parts by weight of the olefinically unsaturated monomer;

wherein olefinically unsaturated monomer is an acryloyl monomer selected from the group consisting of trimethylolpropane tri(meth)acrylate, 1,6-hexanediol di(meth)acrylate, neopentyl glycol di(meth)acrylate, ethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate, propylene glycol di(meth)acrylate, cyclohexanedimethanol di(meth)acrylate, butanediol di(meth)acrylate, diethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate, triethylene glycol di(meth)acrylate, isobornyl (meth)acrylate, methyl (meth)acrylate, methacryloxypropyl trimethoxysilane, ethoxylated (2) bisphenol A di(meth)acrylate, and mixtures thereof; and

wherein the curable composition comprises 0.2 to 5 part by weight of a curing initiator selected from the group consisting of benzoyl peroxide, dicumyl peroxide, methyl ethyl ketone peroxide, lauryl peroxide, cyclohexanone peroxide, t-butyl hydroperoxide,t-butyl benzene hydroperoxide, t-butyl peroctoate, 2,5-dimethylhexane-2,5-dihydroperoxide, 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-di(t-butylperoxy)-hex-3-yne, di-t-butylperoxide, t-butylcumyl peroxide, α,α′-bis(t-butylperoxy-m-isopropyl)benzene, 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-di(t-butylperoxy)hexane, di(t-butylperoxy) isophthalate, t-butylperoxy benzoate, 2,2-bis(t-butylperoxy)butane, 2,2-bis(t-butylperoxy)octane, 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-di (benzoylperoxy)hexane, di(trimethylsilyl)peroxide, trimethylsilylphenyltriphenylsilyl peroxide, and mixtures thereof;

wherein all parts by weight are based on 100 parts by weight total of the difunctionalized poly(arylene ether) and the acryloyl monomer.

18. The curable composition of claim 17 , wherein the acryloyl monomer comprises cyclohexanedimethanoldi(meth)acrylate.

19. A cured composition, comprising the reaction products obtained by curing the curable composition of claim 1 .

20. An article comprising the cured composition of claim 19 .

21. The curable composition of claim 1 , wherein the olefinically unsaturated monomer is selected from the group consisting of 2-methylstyrene, 3-methylstyrene, 4-methylstyrene, 2-t-butylstyrene, 3-t-butylstyrene, 4-t-butylstyrene, and combinations thereof.

22. The curable composition of claim 1 , wherein the olefinically unsaturated monomer comprises 4-t-butylstyrene.