1,1-Bis[4-(4-aminophenoxy)phenyl]-1-phenylethane (BAPPE) was prepared through nucleophilic substitution reaction of 1,1-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)-1-phenylethane and p-chloronitrobenzene in the presence of K 2 CO 3 in N,N-dimethylformamide, followed by catalytic reduction with hydrazine and Pd/C. Novel organosoluble polyimides and copolyimides were synthesized from BAPPE and six kinds of commercial dianhydrides, including pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA, I a ), 3,3ะ,4,4ะ-benzophenonetetracarboxylic dianhydride (BTDA, I b ), 3,3ะ,4,4ะ-biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride (BPDA, I c ), 4,4ะ-oxydiphthalic anhydride (ODPA, I d ), 3,3ะ,4,4ะ-diphenylsulfonetetracarboxylic dianhydride (DSDA, I e ) and 4,4ะ-hexafluoroisopropylidenediphthalic anhydride (6FDA, I f ). Differing with the conventional polyimide process by thermal cyclodehydration of poly(amic acid), when polyimides were prepared by chemical cyclodehydration with N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone as used solvent, resulted polymers showed good solubility. Additional, I a,b were mixed respectively with the rest of dianhydrides (I c-f ) and BAPPE at certain molar ratios to prepare copolyimides with arbitrary solubilities. These polyimides and copolyimides were characterized by good mechanical properties together with good thermal stability.