Three new aromatic polyimides containing one or two replaceable halogen atoms in the repeat unit have been prepared by one-pot polycondensation at high temperature from dianhydrides and dian-lines containing halogen atoms. The halogenated polyimides exhibited good thermal properties and great solubility ill a Wide range Of organic solvents. which make them good candidates to prepare functional polymers. They also showed film-forming, capabilities, good mechanical properties, and it very low ability to take water, with values of only around 1% water uptake. To show the Usefulness of these polyimides as functional polymers, the halogen group of two of them was successfully replaced butyl phenyl or 4-tert-butyl phenyl ethynyl groups by a Suzki or a Sonogashira reaction, respectively. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.