A novel way to prepare an electroactive polyamide (alternating copolymer) is presented. Well-defined molecular structure polyamide with amine-capped aniline pentamer in the main chain was obtained. The copolymer has been characterized by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, 1H NMR, elemental analysis (EA), and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Its chemical oxidation process was studied by UV-vis spectra and the electrochemical analysis was checked by cyclic voltammetry (CV). It was found that the obtained electroactive polyamide shows three redox peaks in the cyclic voltammetry, which is different from the polyaniline. Moreover, the thermal properties of the copolymer were evaluated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The electrical conductivity is about 2.5 x 10(-6) S cm(-1) at room temperature. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.