Arylidene Polymers VIII. Synthesis, Characterization and Morphology of New Polyesters Based on 2,7-Diarylidenecycloheptanone

New polyesters have been synthesized via interfacial polycondensation of 2,7-bis(p-hydroxybenzylidene)cycloheptanone I with 4,4′-diphenic, isophthaloyl, tere-phthaloyl, adipoyl and sebacoyl dichlorides at ambient temperature. In order to characterize these polyesters a model compound II was prepared from I and benzoyl chloride. The resulting polyesters were characterized by IR, 1 H-NMR, elemental analyses, viscometry, solubility measurements, DSC and thermogravimetric analyses. The crystallinity of the polymers was examined by X-ray analysis. The morphology of a high performance polyester namely poly[oxyisophthaloxy-p-phenylenemethylidyne (2-oxy-l,3-cycloheptanediylidene)methylidyne-p-phenylene] has been investigated by scanning and transmission electron microscopy.