Synthesis and characterization of some novel organometallic aromatic polyamides

Some novel ferrocene containing aromatic polyamides were prepared by low‐temperature solution phase polycondensation of 1,1′‐ferrocenedicarboxylic acid chloride with some newly synthesized aromatic diamines in tetrahydrofuran, in the presence of triethylamine. The amorphous polymers were derived in good yields, and did not melt at >350 °C. The monomers and the resulting polymers were characterized by their physical properties, elemental analysis, ¹H‐NMR, FTIR spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analyses. The polymeric products were insoluble in common solvents tested. However, all were miscible in concentrated H₂SO₄, forming reddish brown solutions at ambient conditions. The glass transition temperatures (T_g) of these polymers were quite high, which is characteristic of aramids. They are stable up to 500 °C, with 10% mass loss observed in the range 400–650 °C. The activation energies of pyrolysis for each of the products were calculated by Horowitz and Metzger's method. Solution viscosities of the polymers were reduced in concentrated sulfuric acid, which is due to their non‐Newtonian behavior. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.