Environmentally Friendly Methodology for Preparation of Amino Acid Containing Polyamides

A short and green method for the preparation of optically active aromatic polyamides (PAs) using tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) as a molten ionic liquid is reported. Polycondensation reactions of amino acid containing diacid (2S)-5-(4-methyl-2-phthalimidylpentanoylamino)isophthalic acid with various commercially available diisocyanates in molten TBAB as a green medium or in N-methylpyrrolidone as common organic solvent with or without dibutyltin dilaurate as a catalyst under microwave irradiation were carried out. Various PAs were obtained with high yields and moderate inherent viscosities in the rang of 0.30–0.57 dL/g. The obtained polymers were characterized by FT-IR, specific rotation measurements, and representative of them by ¹H NMR and elemental analysis techniques. Thermal properties of PAs were evaluated by thermogravimetric analysis and the results showed that the 10% weight loss temperature in a nitrogen atmosphere for four representative samples were more than 258 °C, which indicates that the resulting PAs have good thermal stability as well as excellent solubility.