| Abstract: | A new cardo dicarboxylic acid, 8,8‐bis4‐(4‐carboxyphenoxy)phenyl]tricyclo5.2.1.02,6]decane (BCPTD), was synthesized from 4,4′‐(octahydro‐4,7‐methano‐5H‐inden‐5‐ylidene)bisphenol and p‐fluorobenzonitrile via aromatic nucleophilic substitution followed by hydrolysis. A series of new cardo polyamides was prepared by the direct polycondensation of BCPTD and various aromatic diamines in N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidinone (NMP) with triphenyl phosphite and pyridine as the condensing agents. Polymers were produced with moderate to high inherent viscosities of 0.65 to 1.08 dL g?1. The polymers, except for polymer PA1 , exhibited number‐average molecular weights and weight‐average molecular weights in the range of 38,400 to 86,300 and 57,800 to 148,000, respectively. Nearly all of the polymers were readily soluble in polar solvents such as NMP, N,N‐dimethylacetamide, N,N‐dimethylformamide, and dimethyl sulfoxide as well as in less polar solvents such as pyridine, γ‐butyrolactone, and tetrahydrofuran. All of the polymers were amorphous, and the polyamide films had a tensile‐strength range of 75 to 128 MPa and a tensile‐modulus range of 2.0 to 2.8 GPa. These polyamides had glass‐transition temperatures between 240 and 269°C and 10% weight‐loss temperatures in the range of 477 to 508°C and 471 to 518°C in nitrogen and air atmospheres, respectively. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 74–79, 2000 |
