Method for making bisphenoxide salts and bisimides derived therefrom

In the method of making aromatic either imides of the formula, ##STR8## by heating a substituted phthalimide of the formula, ##STR9## and a preformed alkali metal phenoxide salt of the formula,

• R.sup.1 --OM).sub.a,
• in the presence of a nonpolar organic solvent and an effective amount of a phase transfer catalyst, whereby special procedures are required to minimize the introduction of moisture and oxygen into the reaction mixture, the improvement which consists essentially of utilizing as the alkali metal phenoxide salt in the aromatic ether imide reaction mixture, the product obtained by refluxing a heterogenous mixture of a hydrocarbon solvent having a boiling point in the range of 80.degree. C. to 200.degree. C. at 760 torr and an aqueous solution of substantially equal moles of a phenol of the formula,
• R.sup.1 --OH).sub.a,
• and alkali metal hydroxide to effect the separation of water from the heterogenous mixture by azeotropic distillation until the resulting mixture is substantially anhydrous, where R is a monovalent group selected from hydrogen, a C.sub.(1-8) alkyl group and a C.sub.(6-13) aryl group, X.sub.1 is a member selected from the group consisting of nitro and halo, R.sup.1 is an aromatic group selected from the group consisting of a C.sub.(6-30) aromatic carbocyclic group, a halogenated C.sub.(6-30) aromatic carbocyclic group and an alkylated C.sub.(6-30) aromatic carbocyclic group and a divalent organic group of the formula, ##STR10## where X is a member selected from the group consisting of divalent groups of the formula, ##STR11## --O--, and --S--, m is 0 or 1, y is a whole number from 1 to 5 and a is an integer equal to 1 or 2, and when a is 1, R.sup.1 is monovalent and when a is 2, R.sup.1 is divalent.