addition of 2 2 39 azobis isobutyronitrile was made and reflux temperatures were maintained for 16 hours thin layer chromatography alumina chcl 3 ch 3 oh 99 1 indicated that most of the following monomer had disappeared polymerized str10 after concentration to remove solvent a viscous gum remained this residue was dissolved in methylenee dichloride and the resulting clear pale yellow solution added to 600 ml of ice cold hexane the white solid precipitate was filtered with suction and the filter cake washed with fresh hexane and dried in vacuo at 60 u00b0 c the dried polymer 7 65 g 98 had a tg of 67 u00b0 c by dsc mid range on reheat anal calcd for c 25 h 30 o 8 c 65 49 h 6 60 found c 65 46 and 65 27 h 6 74 and 6 79 the high and low values for the molecular weight distribution of the polymer were about 49 000 and 4 900 respectively a solution of 3 4 dihydroxybenzaldehyde 19 g 0 138 mol in 400 ml of n butanol was given a sub surface sparge with helium for 0 5 hr the clear rust colored solution was treated with 11 7 g 0 293 mol of sodium hydroxide in 30 ml of water the reaction mixture developed an amber color and was heated to gentle reflux while maintaining a helium atmosphere to the stirred gently refluxing solution was added 37 4 g.