ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION Poly(/?-phenylene) (PPP) is one of the simplest polymers being exclusively com posed of benzene rings (Scheme 1). In 1886, it was reported that tridecaphenyl was obtained by the Wurtz-Fittig reaction of p-dibromobenzene. In 1936, hexadecaphenyl was prepared by heating m-dibromobenzene with methanolic KOH, H20 , and Pd-CaC03 at 150°C and 12 atm. Subsequent to this, many scientists studied the preparation of PPP.
