The solution polyesterification of dicarboxylic acids in pyridine, the activated intermediates of which were difficult to dissolve in tosyl chloride/dimethylformamide/pyridine, was investigated in the presence of lithium chloride. The solubility of the activated dicarboxylic acids was largely improved by the presence of the salt, and the polycondensation with bisphenols was greatly facilitated. The salt was more effectively added to a pyridine solution of dicarboxylic acids than to the activated dicarboxylic acids in pyridine. The favorable additive effect on the improved solubility was attributed to a lowered degree of association of the activated dicarboxylic acids, which led to distributions of the resulting oligomers from bisphenols at an earlier stage closer to the theoretical ones and yielded better polycondensation results. The reaction, which proceeded through favorable distributions of the co-oligomers, produced copolymers of higher inherent viscosities and slightly block sequence distributions determined by NMR. (C) 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.