Three series of aromatic polyimides with 4-(carbazol-9-yl)triphenylamine moieties were prepared from the polycondensation reactions of 4,4-diamino-4-(carbazol-9-yl) triphenylamine (1), 4,4-diamino-4-(3,6-di-tert-butylcarbazol-9-yl)triphenylamine (t-Bu-1), and 4,4-diamino-4-(3,6-dimethoxycarbazol-9-yl)triphenylamine (MeO-1), respectively, with various commercially available tetracarboxylic dianhydrides. In addition to high thermal stability and good film-forming ability, the resulting polyimides exhibited an ambipolar electrochromic behavior. The polyimides based on t-Bu-1 and MeO-1 revealed higher redox-stability and enhanced electrochromic performance than the corresponding ones based on 1 because the active sites of their carbazole units are blocked with bulky t-butyl or electron-donating methoxy groups. (c) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014, 52, 1172-1184