Single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies of the oligomers m-deciphenyl and rn-undeciphenyl, isolated chromatographically from low molecular mass poly( m-phenylene), reveal disordered but unequivocally helical chain-structures, from which the crystal and molecular structure of poly( m-phenylene) can be directly inferred.

A series of new, all-aromatic, macrocyclic biaryls have been obtained by intramolecular, nickel-promoted coupling of bis(4-chlorobenzoylphenoxy)-terminated oligomers, and single-crystal X-ray analysis of one such macrocycle reveals extreme distortion of the biaryl unit; these highly strained materials undergo rapid ring-opening polymerisation in the presence of nucleophilic initiators to give high molecular weight polyetherketones.

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