Lignin-derived
chemicals have great potential as feedstock to produce
polymeric materials, due to the low cost and high abundance of lignin
biomass. Lignin is one of the few nonpetroleum sources of aromatic
carbon, a desirable moiety in high-performance polymers. Herein we
describe the synthesis and characterization of a series of 21 poly(ether-amide)s
that incorporate hydroxycinnamates derived from lignin. Three different
hydroxycinnamates (coumaric acid, ferulic acid, sinapinic acid) were
incorporated into dimers, and then copolymerized with a series of
seven aliphatic and aromatic diamines via interfacial polymerization.
The resultant polymers exhibited poor solubility in standard organic
solvents (excluding DMF), but exhibited moderate glass transition
temperatures and moderate thermal stabilities. Additionally, the polymers
exhibit excellent resistance to hydrolysis. The modularity of this
synthetic approach could be used to rapidly generate diverse polymers
with a broad range of well-tuned properties.