Copolyamides and copolyesters containing the phenoxasilin ring

Copolyamides and copolyesters containing the phenoxasilin ring were prepared from 2,8-dichloroformyl-10,10-diphenylphenoxasilin, isophthaloyl chloride and m-phenylenediamine or bisphenol A by interfacial polycondensation in chloroform-aqueous alkali mixture. They were obtained in yields of 80% or above and at relatively high viscosities up to 1.30 dl/g. The copolymers with high phenoxasilin content were freely soluble in dimethylacetamide, dimethylformamide and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, but decreasing phenoxasilin content led to copolymers with slight solubilities in these solvents; the copolyesters also dissolved in chloroform, m-cresol and phenol-sym tetrachloroethane (60:40 in wt%). Flexible transparent films were obtained from chloroform solutions of the copolyesters, but the films cast from DMF solutions of the copolyamides became brittle as the phenoxasilin content decreased. The phenoxasilin-containing copolymers hardly degraded below 400° and had good thermal stability. Introduction of the phenoxasilin ring into the polymer backbones by copolycondensation did not reduce thermal stability.