Cis/trans copolyamides of 1,4-bisaminomethylcyclohexane

Copolyamides prepared from cis- and trans-1,4-bisaminomethylcyclohexane with adipic, sebacic, and dodecanoic acids showed a decrease in melting point with increasing cis diamine content and increasing chain length of the diacid. Most unusual was the fact that the glass transition temperature of these copolymers were essentially independent of diamine isomer content. The existence of an intermediate conformation for some of the cyclohexane rings such as the “twistmer” is suggested to account for this discrepancy. The T_g, T_c, and T_m all decreased with increasing chain length of the diacid. The thermal stability as exemplified by the polysebacamides, was independent of diamine isomer content.