Abstract
Soluble functional copolyimides are of great interest due to their excellent thermal properties and solubility, and the ability to adapt their properties to a wide range of special applications. Therefore, a novel poly(amide-ester-imide)s (PAEI)s was obtained by step-growth polymerization of several optically active diacids (3a–3d) with diol, ‘N,N′-(1,3,5,7-tetraoxo-5,7-dihydropyrrolo[3,4-f]isoindole-2,6(1H,3H)-diyl)bis(4-hydroxybenzamide)’ (4) via tosyl chloride, pyridine, and N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) as a condensing agent. The obtained polymers were characterized by FT-IR, and 1H-NMR spectroscopy. Also, their physical properties including X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, specific rotation techniques, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were examined. These PAEIs with inherent viscosities in the range of 0.22–0.33 dL/g showed excellent solubility in various solvents such as N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone, N,N-dimethylacetamide, and DMF. TGA showed that all polymers were stable, with 10% weights loss recorded above 380 °C in nitrogen atmosphere. Preliminary tests on the films of PAEI indicated that these materials are brittle. The FE-SEM of the above-mentioned PAEIs confirmed that these macromolecules show spherical morphology.