Patent ID: 7355044

Claim:
A self-assembling dye according to wherein Linker represents any linking group containing at least one carbon, nitrogen, silicon, phosphorous, sulfur or oxygen atom; CU means any chromophore group with an absorption maximum between 200 nm and 2000 nm n and o are the same or different and are integers having a value of at least 1; m can be zero or any integer having a value of at least 1; R 1 and R 2 are the same or different and represent hydrogen, a halogen, a substituted or unsubstituted alkoxy group, a substituted or unsubstituted thioalkoxy group, a substituted or unsubstituted sulphoxy group, a substituted or unsubstituted suiphone group, a substituted or unsubstituted amino group, a nitrile group, a substituted or unsubstituted, saturated or unsaturated alkyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted acyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted sulphonyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted phosphoryl group, a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, a substituted or unsubstituted aralkyl group, a heterocyclic group, a chromophore group, wherein said chromophore group CU is a dye selected from the group consisting of an azo dye with a molar extinction coefficient larger than 10 3 l.mol âˆ’1 cm âˆ’1 , an anthraquinone dye, a (poly)methine dye, an azomethine dye, a disazo dye, a carbonium dye, a styryl dye, a stilbene dye, a phthalocyanine dye, a coumarin dye, an aryl-carbonium dye, a nitro dye, a naphtholactam dye, a dioxazine dye, a flavin dye and a formazan dye; and wherein said Linker is selected from the group consisting of a substituted or unsubstituted, saturated or unsaturated aliphatic group, a substituted or unsubstituted alicyclic hydrocarbon group, a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic group and a substituted or unsubstituted heteroaromatic group.