| Abstract: | A new dicarboxylic acid containing a diphenylmethylene linkage, bis4‐(4‐carboxyphenoxy)phenyl]diphenylmethane (BCAPD), was prepared from bis(4‐hydroxphenyl)diphenylmethane and p‐fluorobenzonitrile via an aromatic nucleophilic substitution reaction followed by hydrolysis. A series of novel polyamides were prepared by the direct polycondensation of BCAPD and various aromatic diamines. The polymers were produced with moderate to high inherent viscosities of 0.80–0.85 dL g?1. Nearly all the polymers were readily soluble in polar solvents such as N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidinone, N,N‐dimethylacetamide, N,N‐dimethylformamide, and dimethyl sulfoxide, in less polar solvents such as pyridine and cyclohexanone, and in tetrahydrofuran. All the polymers were amorphous, and the polyamide films had a tensile strength and a tensile modulus greater than 80 MPa and 2.0 GPa, respectively. These polyamides had glass‐transition temperatures between 249 and 274 °C, and their temperatures at a 10% weight loss were 477–538 and 483–540 °C in nitrogen and air atmospheres, respectively. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 39: 1156–1161, 2001 |
