Polyamide

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Polyamide

A polyamide is a polymer

Polymer

A polymer is a large molecule composed of repeating structural units typically connected by covalent chemical bonds. While polymer in popular usage suggests plastic, the term actually refers to a large class of natural and synthetic materials with a variety of properties....
containing monomer

Monomer

A monomer is a small molecule that may become Chemistry chemical bonding to other monomers to form a polymer....
s of amide

Amide

In chemistry, an amide is one of three kinds of compounds:* the organic chemistry functional group characterized by a carbonyl group linked to a nitrogen atom , or a compound that contains this functional group ; or...
s joined by peptide bond

Peptide bond

A peptide bond is a chemical bond formed between two molecules when the carboxyl group of one molecule reacts with the amine group of the other molecule, thereby releasing a molecule of water ....
s. They can occur both naturally, examples being protein

Protein

Proteins are organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and joined together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid Residue ....
s, such as wool

Wool

Wool is the fiber derived from the specialized skin cells, called follicles, of animals in the Caprinae family, principally domestic sheep, but the hair of certain species of other Mammalia such as cashmere goat, llamas, rabbits and keeshonds may also be called wool....
and silk

Silk

Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from Pupa#Cocoons made by the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity ....
, and can be made artificially, examples being nylon

Nylon

Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers known generically as polyamides and first produced on February 28, 1935 by Wallace Carothers at DuPont....
s, aramid

Aramid

Aramid fibers are a class of heat-resistant and strong synthetic fibers. They are used in aerospace and military applications, for ballistic rated bulletproof vest cloth, and as an asbestos substitute....
s, and sodium poly(aspartate)

Sodium poly(aspartate)

Sodium poly is a condensation polymer based on aspartic acid. The polymerization reaction is an example of a step-growth polymerization to a polyamide and in one practical procedure aspartic acid is simply heated to 180 ?C resulting in water release and the formation of a poly with succinimide repeating units....
.

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Production from monomers

The amide link is produced from the condensation reaction

Condensation reaction

A condensation reaction is a chemical reaction in which two molecules or moieties combine to form one single molecule, together with the loss of a small molecule....
of an amino group and a carboxylic acid

Carboxylic acid

Carboxylic acids are organic acids characterized by the presence of a carboxyl group, which has the Chemical formula -COH, usually written -COOH or -CO2H....
or acid chloride group. A small molecule, usually water

Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
, or hydrogen chloride

Hydrogen chloride

The Chemical compound hydrogen chloride has the chemical formula HydrogenChlorine. At room temperature, it is a colorless gas, which forms white fumes of hydrochloric acid upon contact with atmospheric humidity....
, is eliminated.

The amino group and the carboxylic acid group can be on the same monomer, or the polymer can be constituted of two different bifunctional monomers, one with two amino groups, the other with two carboxylic acid or acid chloride groups.

Amino acid

Amino acid

In chemistry, an amino acid is a molecule containing both amine and carboxyl functional groups. These molecules are particularly important in biochemistry, where this term refers to alpha-amino acids with the general formula H2NCHRCOOH, where R is an organic substituent....
s can be taken as examples of single monomer (if the difference between R groups

Alkyl

An alkyl is a univalent Radical consisting of carbon and hydrogen atoms, arranged in a chain. The Alkyls form homologous series with the general formula CnH2n+1....
is ignored) reacting with identical molecules to form a polyamide:

Aramid