| Abstract: | Novel poly(N-oxyimide)s (PNOI) were synthesized by the room temperature polycondensation of N,N′-dihydroxypyromellitimide (I) with dichloro compounds in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) in the presence of triethylamine both as base as well as catalyst. The dichloro compounds used were 1,4-bis(chloromethyl)-2,5-dimethylbenzene (II), 1,5-bis(chloromethyl)-2,4-dimethylbenzene (III), 1,4-bis(chloromethyl)-2,5-dimethoxybenzene (IV) and 1,4-dichlorobut-2-yne (V). Polymer synthesis, characterization, and properties such as density, viscosity, solubility, crystallinity, and thermal stability were described. Two model compounds, viz. (i) MNOI-1 from N-hydroxyphthalimide and a dichloro compound (III), (ii) MNOI-2 from I and benzyl chloride were also synthesized to confirm the formation of polymers. The polymers thus obtained had high intrinsic viscosities in the range 1.09–1.18 dl/g. The thermal decomposition of the polymers started around 260°C with 20–25% decomposition and about 50% weight loss was observed at 400°C. |
