Transparent, thermally stable, and semiaromatic poly(amide-imide)s were prepared from hydrogenated trimellitic anhydride chloride (h-TAC) with various aromatic diamines. The dependence of thermostability on the monomer sequence and terminal group was investigated. Thermogravimetric/differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA) was performed to evaluate the thermostabilities, which were found to be primarily affected by the monomer sequence in the polymer units. The 5% weight loss temperature (T-d5) in NZ, glass transition temperature (T-g), and cutoff wavelength of the ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrum (lambda(cut)) of the semiaromatic poly(amide-imide)s are 422-456 degrees C, 131-274 degrees C, and 293-321 nm, respectively, while those of wholly aromatic poly(amide-imide)s are 454-480 degrees C, 169-287 degrees C, and 415 nm, respectively. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.