The present invention relates to oligomeric binaphtyl compounds of the formula (I) that are suitable as monomers for preparing
thermoplastic resins, such as
polycarbonate resins, which have beneficial optical and mechanical properties and can be used for producing optical devices. where X1 and X2 are independently selected from
hydrogen, -Alk1-OH, -CH2-A2-CH2-OH, -Alk2-C(O)ORX, -CH2-A2-C(O)ORX and -C(O)-A2-C(O)ORX, where Rx is selected from the group consisting of
hydrogen, phenyl, benzyl and C1-C4-
alkyl; Y1 and Y2 are independently selected from -CH2-, -CHArY- and -CH(CH2ArY)-; A1 is e. g. a
single bond, -CH2-, -CHArA -CH(CH2ArA)-, -C(CH2ArA)2-, a
moiety of the formula (A), mono- or polycyclic
arylene having from 6 to 26 carbon atoms as ring members or mono- or polycyclic hetarylene having a total of 5 to 26 atoms, which are ring members, alternatively, the
moiety -Y1-A1-Y2- in formula (I) may be -CH2- or -CHArY-, n is 1, 2 or 3; m, p, q and r are independently 0, 1 or 2; R1, R2, R3 and R4 are independently selected from the group consisting of
halogen, C2- C3-alkynyl, CN, R, OR, CHsR'3-s, NR2, C(O)R and CH=CHR", it being possible that R1, R2, R3 or R4 is identical or different if more than 1 of R1, R2, R3 or R4 is present, where s on each occurrence is 0, 1 or 2.