In the presence of excess NaOH, reaction of Cu(OAc) 2 ÁH 2 O with equimolar ammonium calix[4]arene [H 4 L]I 4 (1, H 4 L ¼ [5,11,17,23-tetrakis(trimethylammonium)-25,26,27,28tetrahydroxycalix[4]arene]) resulted in the formation of a mononuclear cationic Cu(II) complex [Cu(II)L(H 2 O)]I 2 (2) in 43% yield. Complex 2 was characterized by elemental analysis, infrared (IR), and single crystal X-ray diffraction. The Cu(II) atom in 2 is coordinated by four oxygen atoms of one L 4À ligand and one O atom from one water molecule, forming a square pyramidal geometry. Complex 2 exhibited high catalytic activity in the oxidative polymerization of 2,6-dimethylphenol using O 2 as oxidizing agent in water under mild conditions. The selective polymerization produced poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4phenylene oxide) in high yields with almost no diphenoquinone. The influence of the polymerization temperature, the time interval, the molar ratio of 2,6-dimethylphenol/2, the concentrations of sodium hydroxide, and sodium n-dodecyl sulfate were examined. V C 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 50: [4864][4865][4866][4867][4868][4869][4870] 2012