Structural characterization of copolyamides synthesized via the facile blending of polyamides

Ny6-Ny6,10 and Ny6-Ny4,6 copolyamides prepared by a facile melt mixing at 290-310 degreesC of carboxyl terminated Nylon6 (Ny6-COOH) with Ny6,10 or Ny4,6, were characterized by MALDI, C-13 NMR, and DSC analysis. The results, from one side show how facile is the high yield synthesis of random copolyamides via the melt mixing of the corresponding polyamides. What makes the synthesis so facile is the use of a carboxyl terminated polyamide (Ny6-COOH) to attack the other polyamide (Ny4,6 or Ny6,10), as described herewith. The DSC data acquired provide a clear picture of the process. The second relevant point is about the sequence analysis of the copolyamides, made using their C-13 NMR spectra. The sequence has been derived directly from chain statistics principles, avoiding the use of inadequate procedures. To our knowledge, this is the first time as far as condensation copolymers are concerned. Interesting, the sequence analysis of our copolyamides has been also performed independently, by extracting pertinent information from their MALDI spectra. The results have been found in excellent agreement with those from C-13 NMR data.