Investigations on the polyimides derived from unfunctionalized symmetric cyclopentyl‐containing alicyclic cardo‐type dianhydride

This study presents an investigation on polyimides derived from a unfunctionalized symmetric cyclopentyl‐containing alicyclic cardo‐type dianhydride with ester linkage 1,1‐bis(4‐(3,4‐dicarboxylbenzoyloxy)phenyl)cyclopentylene dianhydride (BDPCP) that was readily accessed starting from cyclopentanone through two steps in high yield. Two series of polyimides, Cardo‐type series (CPI‐x) and analogous aromatic series (ArPI‐x) were prepared from condensation of BDPCP and aromatic 3,3′,4,4′‐Oxydiphthalic dianhydride with four aromatic diamines, respectively. Comparative studies revealed that CPI polymers show more favorable properties including better solubility in organic solvents, higher transparency with lower cut‐off wavelength (λ₀) ranging in 395–375 nm than 425–405 nm, lower water absorption ranging in 0.66–1.14% and surface energy 23.71–32.77 mN/m than 1.01–1.28% and 29.52–41.99 mN/m of ArPI analogs. Meanwhile, CPI series exhibit considerable mechanical properties with tensile strengths ranging in 87.6–102.9 MPa, elongations at break 6.6–8.9%. Owing to the moderate strain in cyclopentyl ring, CPI series retain good thermal properties with the glass transition temperature (T_g) in the range of 217–271°C. Dynamic dielectric measurement revealed that Cardo‐type dianhydride BDPCP endows CPI‐4 film with lower dielectric constant (ε′) 3.34 at 1 MHz and 25°C and dielectric loss (ε′′) 0.0064 at 1 kHz and 25°C than 3.49 and 0.013 for ArPI‐4 film. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42670.