Optically high transparency and light color of organosoluble fluorinated polyamides with bulky xanthene pendent groups

New fluorinated polyamides were prepared directly from a diamine, 9,9‐bis[4‐(2‐trifluoromethyl‐4‐aminophenoxy)phenyl]xanthene ( BTFAPX ) with various aromatic dicarboxylic acid chlorides by low‐temperature polycondensation. The polymers were produced with moderate‐to‐high inherent viscosities of 0.65–1.01 dl/g while the weight‐average molecular weight and number‐average molecular weight were in the range of 69,000–82,000 and 39,000–43,000, respectively. Nearly all the polymers were readily soluble in amide‐type polar aprotic solvents [e.g. N, N ‐dimethylacetamide (DMAc) and N ‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidinone], and even in less polar solvents such as dimethyl sulfoxide and pyridine, and afforded transparent, light‐colored, and flexible films upon casting from DMAc solvent. The polymers showed glass transition temperatures between 235 and 284°C, and 10% weight loss temperatures ranging from 495 to 532°C and 476 to 510°C in nitrogen and air, respectively, and char yields higher than 55% at 800°C in nitrogen. All polymers were amorphous and their films exhibited tensile strengths of 64–95 MPa, elongations at break of 6–9%, and tensile moduli of 1.9–2.5 GPa. These polymers had dielectric constants ranging from 3.65 to 4.03 (100 Hz), low‐moisture absorption in the range of 0.56–1.14%, and high transparency with an ultraviolet–visible absorption cut‐off wavelength in the 334–372 nm range. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.