Some New Organometallic Polyamides based on Ferrocene

Three new polyamides containing ferrocene units in the main chain were synthesized via low temperature polycondensation route, reacting 1,1′-ferrocenedicarboxylic acid chloride with three different types of aromatic diamines. The products were characterized by their solubilities, elemental analysis, FTIR spectral analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetry and viscosity measurements. The glass transition temperatures of the polymers were found by DSC curves and the activation energies of pyrolysis were estimated from TG curves applying Horowitz and Metzger method. Among these, polyamide P-1 (prepared from 4-(4-aminophenyloxy)phenyl-4-aminobenzamide) was found soluble in some of the organic solvents at room temperature but has poor thermal stability. Polyamide P-2 (prepared from 1,2-di(para-aminophenyloxy)ethylene) was soluble on heating and is thermally stable. However, all of these were also miscible with concentrated H2SO4 forming red coloured solutions.