Wenxi Huang

Synthesis and characterization of soluble polyimides from 1,1-bis(4-aminophenyl)cyclohexane derivatives

A series of novel aromatic diamines (1-3) containing kinked cyclohexylidene moieties was synthesized by a reaction of excess aniline and corresponding methyl-substituted cyclohexanone derivatives. The structures of (1-3) were identifield by 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR, and FT-IR. The polymers were synthesized from the obtained diamines and various aromatic dianhydrides by the conventional polycondensation reaction followed by chemical imidization as well as high-temperature one-step polymerization. The inherent viscosities and weight-average molecular weights of the resulting polyimides were in the ranges of 0.55-1.58 dUg and (7.4-15.2) x 10 4 g/mol, respectively. The prepared polyimides showed excellent thermal stabilities and good solubility. All polymers were readily soluble in common organic solvents such as tetrahydrofuran, chloroform, tetrachloroethane, etc., and the glass transition temperatures were observed at 290-372 °C.

1H n.m.r. study on the ring opening selectivity of aromatic dianhydrides towards methanol

Several isomeric aromatic diester-diacids may appear as a result of the opening selectivity of anhydride groups towards the alcohol. H-1 n.m.r. was thus used to characterize the isomeric structure and to quantify the isomer composition. It was found that the isomer ratios quantitatively correlate with electron affinity of bridged dianhydrides and is independent of the alcohol structure used. Furthermore, the H-1 n.m.r chemical shift of bridged diester-diacids was found to be a very sensitive probe of chemical nature of bridged groups and can be used as indices of the opening selectivity