A new cardo dicarboxylic acid, 8,8-bis[4-(4-carboxyphenoxy)
phenyl]tricyclo[5.2.1.0 2,6 ]decane (BCPTD), was synthesized from 4,4ะ-(octahydro-4,7-methano-5H-inden-5-ylidene)bisphenol and p-fluorobenzonitrile via aromatic nucleophilic substitution followed by hydrolysis. A series of new cardo polyamides was prepared by the direct polycondensation of BCPTD and various aromatic diamines in N-methyl-2pyrrolidinone (NMP) with triphenyl phosphite and pyridine as the condensing agents. Polymers were produced with moderate to high inherent viscosities of 0.65 to 1.08 dL g ฯช1 . The polymers, except for polymer PA1, exhibited number-average molecular weights and weight-average molecular weights in the range of 38,400 to 86,300 and 57,800 to 148,000, respectively. Nearly all of the polymers were readily soluble in polar solvents such as NMP, N,N-dimethylacetamide, N,N-dimethylformamide, and dimethyl sulfoxide as well as in less polar solvents such as pyridine, โฅ-butyrolactone, and tetrahydrofuran. All of the polymers were amorphous, and the polyamide films had a tensile-strength range of 75 to 128 MPa and a tensile-modulus range of 2.0 to 2.8 GPa. These polyamides had glass-transition temperatures between 240 and 269ยฐC and 10% weight-loss temperatures in the range of 477 to 508ยฐC and 471 to 518ยฐC in nitrogen and air atmospheres, respectively.