Question

The Amoco Chemical Company has successfully raced a car with a plastic engine. Many of the engine parts, including piston skirts, connecting rods, and valve-train components, are made of a polymer called Torlon:

What monomers are used to make this polymer?

Short answer

Trimellitic anhydride and benzene-1,4.diamine are used to form torlon polymer

Step-by-step solution

To find the monomers used to make polymer

Torlon is a polymer combining trimellitic anhydride and benzene-1,4-diamine. They are shown in the picture below.

The process of torlon formation is called condensation polymerization. One nitrogen atom from the amine group will replace the oxygen atom from the ring creating water as a product. The second reaction of condensation polymerization is when the second nitrogen atom creates the bond with the carbon atom that is a part of the carboxylic group. Hydroxyl group is eliminated and forms a water molecule.

Structure of polymer

The structure of the polymer is,

Hence Trimellitic anhydride and benzene-1,4, diamine are used to form torlon polymer