In this article, we have successfully synthesized a new dicarboxylic acid, from the two step reactions. At first 4,4'-bis(1,2-diphenoxyethane) dialdehyde was synthesized from 1,2-dibromoethane and 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde , then 4,4'-bis(1,2-diphenoxyethane) diacrylic acid was synthesized from 4,4'-bis(1,2-diphenoxyethane) dialdehyde and malonic acid in a solvent free reaction. Four new organosoluble and thermally stable polyamides (PAs) with good inherent viscosities containing photosensitive groups were synthesized from the direct polycondensation reaction of 4,4'-bis(1,2-diphenoxyethane) diacrylic acid with four various aromatic diamines containing photosensitive group, by two different methods such as direct polycondensation in a medium consisting of N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP)/triphenyl phosphite (TPP)/calcium chloride (CaCl2)/pyridine (Py) and direct polycondensation in a tosyl chloride (TsCl)/pyridine (Py)/N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) system. All of the above polymers were fully characterized by 1H-NMR, FTIR, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), elemental analysis, inherent viscosity, solubility tests, UVvis spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The resulted polyamides (PAs) have showed admirable good inherent viscosities, thermal stability and solubility. (C) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012