Synthesis and Thermal Properties of Novel Polyamides Containing α-Amino Acid Moieties: Structure-Property Relationship

We report the preparation of a library of new types of polyamides-containing amino acids based on eight new symmetric meta-oriented protected diamines derived from coupling four Fmoc-amino acids namely Gly, Ala, Val, Leu, with m-phenylene diamine or 2,6-diaminopyridine using three different coupling procedures. The thermal properties of the polymers were evaluated by different techniques. Results revealed that incorporation of pyridine onto the polymeric backbone of all series decrease the thermal stability. Structure-thermal property correlation based on changing the dicarboxylic acid monomer or the diamine monomer demonstrated an interesting connection between a single change and thermal properties. The thermodynamic parameters of decomposition processes were evaluated graphically by employing the Coats-Redfern method. The newly prepared polymers may possess biodegradability and thus, may find some applications as novel biomaterials.