Copolyamides from adipic and truxillic acids: Synthesis and characterization by direct pyrolysis in the mass spectrometer

The synthesis of a series of polyamides and copolyamides containing α-truxillic and adipic units in the chain is reported. The thermal degradation of these polymers was investigated by direct pyrolysis in the ion source of a mass spectrometer. Thermal degradation reactions were followed directly by this method by detecting the thermal- and electron-impact-induced fragments. The results obtained show a good correlation between the intensity of mass peaks characteristic of truxillic and adipic moieties and the composition of the copolyamides, as ascertained by elemental analysis. This is an important result since it shows the potential of the direct pyrolysis method in the analysis of copolym…