Novel Self-Dyed Wholly Aromatic Polyamide-Hydrazides Covalently Bonded with Azo Groups in Their Main Chains: 1. Structure-Property Relationships

Twelve novel intrinsically colored wholly aromatic azopolyamide-hydrazides containing various proportions of para- and meta-phenylene units were successfully synthesized by a low temperature (−10 °C) solution polycondensation reaction of either 4-amino-3-hydroxybenzhydrazide (4A3HBH) or 3-amino-4-hydroxybenzhydrazide (3A4HBH) with an equimolar amount of either 4,4′-azodibenzoyl chloride (4,4′ADBC), 3,3′-azodibenzoyl chloride (3,3′ADBC), or mixtures of various molar ratios of 4,4′ADBC and 3,3′ADBC in anhydrous N,N-dimethyl acetamide (DMAc) containing 3% (wt/v) LiCl as a solvent. The structures of the polymers were proven by elemental analysis, FTIR, (1)H- and (13)C-NMR spectroscopy. The polymers’ properties were strongly affected by their various structures. The intrinsic viscosities of the polymers were ranged from 0.7 to 4.75 dL g(−1) and increased with the para-phenylene units content. The polymers are partially soluble in DMAc, dimethyl formamide (DMF) and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP). Their solubility increases with the introduction of meta-phenylene moieties into the polymer chains. The polymers exhibit a great affinity for water sorption. Their hydrophilicity increases as a function of the content of meta-phenylene rings incorporated into the polymer. Mechanical properties of the polymer films are improved markedly by substitution of para-phenylene units for meta-phenylene units. The completely para-oriented type polymer has the best thermal and thermo-oxidative stability relative to those of the other polymers.