Aromatic polyamides with pendent acetoxybenzamide groups and thin films made therefrom

New aromatic polyamides containing 1,3,4-oxadiazole or benzonitrile units in the main chain and 5-(4-acetoxybenzamido) groups in the side chain have been synthesized and their properties have been characterized and compared with those of related polyamides and polyoxadiazole-amides. These polymers show good thermal stability, with initial decomposition temperature being at about 300 °C and glass transition temperature in the range of 260–280 °C. They are easily soluble in certain solvents such as N-methylpyrrolidinone (NMP), N,N′-dimethylacetamide (DMA) and N,N′-dimethylformamide (DMF) and can be cast from solutions into thin flexible films. The polymer films had tensile strengths in the range of 77–97 MPa, tensile moduli in the range of 2.3–2.6 GPa and elongation at break values ranging from 6% to 24%. One of the polymers containing the 1,3,4-oxadiazole ring exhibited blue fluorescence.