Ciba-Geigy Corporation

John S Waterhouse

Marcus Baumann

Martin Roth

Vratislav Kvita

Hans Zweifel

George E Green

Niklaus Baumann

Bernard Peter Stark

Edward Irving

Roderick D Hathaway

Marcus Bauman

Diacrylates or dimethacrylates, which are compatible with water before exposure to actinic radiation but after such exposure form hard, insoluble, coatings which are resistant to organic solvents and to water, are made by reaction with (meth)acrylic acid, or with a dicarboxylic acid and a hydroxy group-containing (meth)acrylate, of epoxide groups in an advanced diepoxide resin containing groups of formula ##STR1## where R.sup.4 denotes a divalent (cyclo)aliphatic or araliphatic radical,

Photopolymerizable resins

A method for forming an image by a positive resist process comprises:

Image formation process

The imidyl compounds, according to the invention, of the formula I are suitable for the manufacture of polymers which can be crosslinked by light, which polymers can be, for example, polyesters, polyamides, polyamide-imides, polyimides, polyester-polyamides, polyester-amide-imides, polyethers, polyamines, polysaccharides and polysiloxanes. Polymers of this type are suitable for carrying out photochemical processes. Compared with known polymers, the polymers based on the imidyl compounds according to the invention have the advantage that they are photochemically substantially more sensitive. In addition, this sensitivity can also be further increased effectively by a combination with sensitizers.

Imidyl compounds

The imidyl compounds, according to the invention, of the formula I are suitable for the manufacture of polymers which can be crosslinked by light, which polymers can be, for example, polyesters, polyamides, polyamide-imides, polyimides, polyester-polyamides, polyester-amide-imides, polyethers, polyamines, polysaccharides and polysiloxanes. Polymers of this type are suitable for carrying out photochemical processes. Compared with known polymers, the polymers based on the imidyl compounds according to the invention have the advantage that they are photochemically substantially more sensitive. In addition, this sensitivity can also be further increased effectively by a combination with sensitisers.

The invention relates to organic polymers which can be crosslinked under the action of light and which are suitable for carrying out photomechanical processes. These polymers are photochemically considerably more sensitive than known comparable polymers and their sensitivity can additionally also be further increased by means of a combination with sensitizers. The molecular weight is at least 1,000. The polymers contain, as light-sensitive groups, groups of the formula I ##STR1## wherein R and R.sub.1 independently of one another denote alkyl groups with at most 4 C atoms, or R and R.sub.1 conjointly denote the remaining part of a 5-membered to 6-membered carbocyclic ring.

Crosslinkable polymeric compounds

The invention relates to organic polymers which can be crosslinked under the action of light and which are suitable for carrying out photomechanical processes. These polymers are photochemically considerably more sensitive than known comparable polymers and their sensitivity can additionally also be further increased by means of a combination with sensitisers. The molecular weight is at least 1,000. The polymers contain, as light-sensitive groups, groups of the formula I ##STR1## wherein R and R.sub.1 independently of one another denote alkyl groups with at most 4 C atoms, or R and R.sub.1 conjointly denote the remaining part of a 5-membered to 6-membered carbocyclic ring.

Crosslinkage polymeric compounds

Diepoxides which may be photopolymerized in the presence or absence of a photosensitizer contain a group having conjugated unsaturation attached to a nitrogen heterocycle, such as a hydantoin or barbituric acid residue, forming part of an advanced diepoxide. The resultant photopolymer may be crosslinked by heating in the presence of a curing agent for epoxide resins. The diepoxides are of use in the production of printing plates and printed circuits, especially multilayer printed circuits.

Photopolymerizable diepoxides containing a nitrogen heterocycle

The modified advanced epoxide resins described, having an average molecular weight of up to 50,000, can be photopolymerized without the need to include photosensitizers. They may be prepared by reaction of a diepoxide ##STR1## with a keto group-containing dihydric phenol ##STR2## to form the advanced epoxide resin ##STR3## followed by condensation with an aldehyde RCHO to yield ##STR4## In the above formulae, R is an organic group which preferably has ethylenic unsaturation or heterocyclic aromaticity in conjugation with the indicated ethylenic double bond; R.sup.1 is the divalent residue linking two epoxide groups; R.sup.2 is preferably a hydrogen atom but may be an organic group, halogen, or cyano; R.sup.3 is a trivalent aromatic or heterocyclic group, especially a group ##STR5## If desired, other dihydric phenols can be employed with that containing a keto group, and condensation with the aldehyde may be carried out so that only some groups --COCH.sub.2 R.sup.2 undergo reaction.

Photopolymerizable ketones

The resins are diepoxides of the formula ##STR1## where A IS AN INTEGER OF AVERAGE VALUE FROM 1 TO 100,

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Cherry Hinton, United Kingdom

John S Waterhouse