Cyanate ester resins are an important class of thermosetting compounds that have experienced an ever-increasing interest as matrix systems for advanced polymer composite materials, which among other applications, are especially suitable for highly demanding functions in the aerospace or microelectronics industries. Other names for cyanate ester resins are cyanate resins, cyanic esters, or triazine resins. The various types of cyanate ester monomers share the aOCN functional group that trimerizes in the course of resin formation to yield a highly branched heterocyclic polymeric network based on the substituted triazine core structure. The basic reaction sequence leading to the typical cyanate ester polymer molecule is depicted in Figure 11.1. The curing reaction may take place with or without catalyst
