Manufacturing method of polyphenylene ether

Abstract

The object of this invention is to provide a method for manufacturing polyphenylene ether with low viscosity while controlling the reactivity during the manufacturing process. To address the aforementioned problem, this invention includes the step of introducing an oxygen-containing gas into a solution containing phenol of formula (1) and phenol of formula (2) to perform oxidative polymerization. An exhaust condenser is provided above the polymerization tank where the oxidative polymerization is performed. The oxidative polymerization reaction temperature Tp, the refrigerant temperature Tc of the exhaust condenser, the volume V m3 of the reaction tank, and the conductive surface A m2 of the exhaust condenser satisfy a specific relationship.