Monomers and oligomers containing a plurality of vinylbenzyl ether groups are prepared by reacting a material containing a plurality of aromatic hydroxyl groups such as tetramethyltetrabromobisphenol A with a vinylbenzyl halide such as vinylbenzyl chloride in the presence of a polar aprotic solvent such as dimethylformamide. The monomers and oligomers prepared by this process have an improvement in one or more properties selected from dielectric constant (before and/or after moisture absorption) or thermal stability. Also disclosed are new monomers and oligomers containing a plurality of vinylbenzyl ether groups such as bis(vinylbenzyl)ether of dicyclopentadienyl bisdimethylphenol.