Three series of terephthalate polyesters (copolyesters and terpolyesters) containing 70, 80, and 90 mol % of ethylene glycol respectively, 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol (CHDM) and isosorbide in varying ratios, were synthesized by melt polycondensation. It was found that only similar to 75 mol % of the feeding isosorbide was incorporated in the resulting polyesters and that their content in diethylene glycol oscillated between 2 and 4 mol %. The polyesters had weight-average molecular weights in the 25,000-33,000 g mol(-1) range and polydispersities between 2 and 2.5. The combined H-1 and C-13 NMR analysis revealed that the microstructure of all these polyesters was at random. They showed good thermal stability with decomposition temperatures above 400 degrees C. Their glass-transition temperatures were observed to increase with the content in cyclic diols, this effect being more pronounced when isosorbide was the replacing comonomer. Only the series containing 90 mol % of ethylene terephthalate units was able to crystallize upon cooling from the melt. Compared isothermal crystallizations revealed that isosorbide was more effective than CHDM in repressing the crystallizability of PET. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 49: 2252-2260, 2011