Wholly aromatic polyamides by the direct polycondensation reaction using triphenyl phosphite in the presence of poly(4‐vinylpyridine)

The polycondensation reaction of aromatic dicarboxylic acids and diamines by using triphenyl phosphite were carried out in N‐methylpyrrolidone (NMP) in the presence of poly(4‐vinylpyridine) (P4VP). The reaction, especially of terephthalic acid (TPA), was markedly facilitated to give the absence of P4VP. The reaction promoted by P4VP was further favored by the addition of various pyridine derivatives; of the pyridines examined, pyridine was most effective, giving the best results at a high level (pyridine/P4VP values up to 26). P4VP of the molecular weight in the range of 1.3 × 104−3.0 × 105 did not affect the viscosity of the resulting polymer. These favorable additive effects of P4VP on the reaction of TPA were not observed in the reactions of isophthalic acid, and m ‐and p‐aminobenzoic acids.