A mixture of isophthalic acid (IPA) and terephthalic acid (TPA) was activated by a tosyl chloride/dimethylformamide/pyridine (Py) condensing agent in two steps via the treatment of a mixture of the initially activated IPA/TPA with additional TPA followed by the activation of TPA with the agent. The resulting mixture showed a solubility in Py different from that obtained by the activation of them all at once; the difference might be due to different structures of the aggregates of the activated IPA and TPA at the same composition of the diacids. The structures of the aggregates were evaluated on the basis of melting points and the IR spectra of a mixture of dimethyl esters of IPA and TPA produced by the quenching of the reaction mixtures with methanol. The mixture obtained by two-step activation showed lower melting points and spectral changes due to enhanced associations of the esters with respect to the mixture prepared by the activation of them all at once. The aggregates were also examined in terms of the distributions of IPA and TPA in thermotropic copolyesters prepared from methylhydroquinone and chlorohydroquinone by their transition temperatures and 13 C NMR.

When activated with TsCl/dimethylformamide/pyridine in the presence of lithium, ammonium, or phosphonium salts, activated terephthalic acid of difficult solubility in pyridine became soluble. Depending on the kind and amount of the salt, terephthalic acid reacted smoothly with 3,3′‐dimethyl bisphenol A to yield the corresponding polymer having high molecular weight. However, this reaction could not be successfully applied to the preparation of polyesters from other dicarboxylic acids of difficult solubility.