A new polycondensation pathway has been developed for the preparation of polyamides at high temperatures. p-Phenylenediamine was converted to N,N-p-phenylene bis(N′,N′-dimethylformamidine) (I), which formed 1–1 and 2–1 salts with terephthalic and adipic acids, respectively: Dicarboxylate salts were polymerizable by heating in bulk or suspension. Low-molecular-weight poly(p-phenyleneterephthalamide) was obtained from N,N-p-phenylene bis(N',N'-dimethylformamidinium) terephthalate above 225°C. The low degree of polymerization was due to terephthalic acid sublimation as well as to the well-known intractability of poly(p-phenyleneterephthalamide). High-viscosity poly(p-phenyleneadipamide) was obtained from N,N-p-phenylene bis(N′,N′-dimethylformamidinum hydrogen adipate) above 200°C. Both salts liberated dimethylformamide (DMF) during polymerization. The adipate salt also released 1 mole of adipic acid during the high-temperature vacuum stage of polymerization. A polycondensation mechanism was proposed for each salt, based on thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA-MS) and infrared (IR) analyses. The hydrolysis of N,N-p-phenylene bis(N',N'-dimethylformamidine), N,N-p-phenylene bis(N',N'-dimethylformamidinium chloride), and the two dicarboxylate salts of (I) was monitored by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) at room temperature. The dihydrochloride salt was most resistant to hydrolysis (kH 6.9 × 10?9 sec?1; relative rate 1.0) followed by (I) 7.1, terephthalate salt, 14.9, and adipate salt, 27.2. Both dicarboxylate salts possessed sufficient hydrolytic stability for use as polycondensation monomers
