Bisphenol A was polycondensed with diphosgene in a dichloromethane/ aqueous NaOH system. Temperature, time, and molar ratios of the reactants were optimized according to a previously elaborated optimization of the hydrolytic polycondensation of bisphenol A bischloroformate. Five of the following catalysts were examined: triethylamine, 4-(N, N-dimethylamino)pyridine (DMAP), ethyldiisopropylamine (EDPA), tetrabutylammonium hydrogen sulfate, and triethylbenzylammonium chloride (TEBA-Cl). Triethylamine and DMAP accelerated the hydrolysis of diphosgene by formation of a hydrophilic acylammonium salt. Therefore, the molecular weights decreased with higher concentration of these tert-amines. However, the molecular weights increased (weight-average molecular weight up to 10(6)) with higher concentrations of tetraalkylammonium salts because these catalysts favor chain growth in the organic phase via "naked" phenoxide ions without catalyzing the hydrolysis of diphosgene. EDPA gave poor results under all circumstances. Cyclic polyearbonates were discovered in all samples. Their fraction increased with the average molecular weight of the samples. When samples prepared with triethylamine or TEBA-Cl were fractionated, cycles having molar masses up to 15,000 Da were detected by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectroscopy. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.