Wholly aromatic polymers exhibit excellent heat resistance and outstanding mechanical properties. As high-performance specialty engineering materials

their application continues to extend. However

due to the stack of large moiety of aromatic units

these aromatic polymers are usually insoluble in common organic solvents and infusible leading to poor processability as well as limitation on extensive applications. To overcome such a difficulty

much effort has been achieved in designing and synthesizing ether unit containing aromatic dicarboxylic acid

dianhydride and diamine monomers to produce soluble and processable aromatic polymers. In this article

the progress of synthesizing aromatic dicarboxylic acid

dianhydride and diamine monomers from bisphenol precursors by Williamson nucleophilic substitution reaction are summarized. Meanwhile

developments in the syntheses of corresponding high-performance aromatic polymers are presented. Finally

the future developing trend in this field is prospected.