Patent ID: 7417141

Claim:
An IR-absorbing dye which is a metal-ligand complex of formula (I) or a compound of formula (II): wherein Q 1 , Q 2 , Q 3 and Q 4 are the same or different and are independently selected from a C 3-20 arylene group or a C 3-20 heteroarylene group, said C 3-20 arylene or C 3-20 heteroarylene group including at least one three-dimensional C 6-30 hydrocarbyl or C 6-30 hydrocarbylene group; M is selected from Si(A 1 )(A 2 ), Ge(A 1 )(A 2 ), Ga(A 1 ), Mg, Al(A 1 ), TiO, Ti(A 1 )(A 2 ), ZrO, Zr(A 1 )(A 2 ), VO, V(A 1 )(A 2 ), Mn, Mn(A 1 ), Fe, Fe(A 1 ), Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sn, Sn(A 1 )(A 2 ), Pb, Pb(A 1 )(A 2 ), Pd and Pt; A 1 and A 2 are axial ligands, which may be the same or different, and are selected from —OH, halogen and —OR 3 ; R 3 is a selected from C 1-12 alkyl, C 5-12 aryl, C 5-12 arylalkyl or Si(R x )(R y )(R z ); and R x , R y and R z may be the same or different and are selected from C 1-12 alkyl, C 5-12 aryl, C 5-12 arylalkyl, C 1-12 alkoxy, C 5-12 aryloxy or C 5-12 arylalkoxy.