Polyphenylene oxide is prepared using a mixture of manganese chelates as a catalyst

Claim 1

A process of forming self-condensation products of a phenol having the structural formula: ##SPC4## where X is a substituent selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, chlorine, bromine, and iodine; R' is a monovalent constituent selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, hydrocarbon radicals, halohydrocarbon radicals having at least two carbon atoms between the halogen atoms and phenol nucleus, hydrocarbonoxy radicals, and halohydrocarbonoxy radicals having at least two carbon atoms between the halogen atoms and phenol nucleus, R" and R'" being the same as R' and, in addition, halogen under reaction conditions which comprise contacting said phenol with oxygen in the presence of a basic reaction medium and a mixture of Type (A) and Type (B) manganese chelate complexes selected from Type (A) complexes of the formulas: Type (A): (L.sup.1).sub.x Mn, where L 1 is a ligand derived from an ortho-hydroxyareneoxime of the general formula ##EQU12## wherein R a is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and lower alkyl radicals having from 1-5 carbon atoms, Ar is at least a divalent arene radical having at least one -OH radical and at least one ##EQU13## radical attached directly to ortho-positioned arene ring carbon atoms, and an ω-hydroxyoxime of the formula ##EQU14## wherein each R b , R c , R d and R e is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, acyclic and cyclic organic radicals, and n is a positive integer equal to 0 or 1, Mn is the transition metal manganese(II), and x is a positive number at least equal to about 0.5, and selected from Type (B) complexes of the formula: Type (B): (L.sup.2).sub.x Mn, wherein L 2 is a ligand other than an L 1 ligand, Mn is the transition metal manganese, and x is a positive number at least equal to about 0.5.