Patent ID: 7049046

Claim:
An infrared absorbing compound, the compound comprising x wt % K units, y wt % L units, and z wt % of M units, in which: (i) K is selected from —[CH 2 C(R 1 )R 2 ]—, —[CH 2 CR 1 (CO 2 R 3 )]—, —[CH 2 CR 1 (CONR 3 2 )]—, —[—CH(COECO)CH—]—, and mixtures thereof; (ii) L is —[CH 2 C(R 4 )CO 2 B n T]-; and (iii) M is —[CH 2 C(R 4 )(-Q-G ⊕ )(D θ )]- or —[CH 2 C(R 4 )(G ⊕ )(D θ )]-; in which: x+y+z= about 100 wt %; each R 1 is independently hydrogen, alkyl of one to six carbon atoms, phenyl, substituted phenyl, or cyano; each R 2 is independently hydrogen, alkyl of one to six carbon atoms, phenyl, substituted phenyl, halogen, cyano, alkoxy of one to four carbon atoms, acyl of one to five carbon atoms, acyloxy of one to five carbon atoms, allyl, —CH 2 CH 2 OCH 2 CH 3 , —CH 2 CH 2 SO2CH 3 , —NHC(O)H, —NHC(O)CH 3 , —Si(CH 3 ) 3 , —Si(OCH 3 ) 3 , or a cyclic —[NC(O)CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 ] group; or R 1 and R 2 together are —CH 2 C(O)OC(O)—, —(CH 2 ) 2 C(O)OC(O)—, or —CH 2 C(O)OC(O)CH 2 —; each R 3 is independently hydrogen, alkyl of one to six carbon atoms, or phenyl; each R 4 is independently hydrogen, alkyl of one to six carbon atoms, phenyl, substituted phenyl, or cyano; E is oxygen or NR 6 in which each R 6 is hydrogen, hydroxyl, phenyl, substituted phenyl, alkyl of one to six carbon atoms, or benzyl; B is selected from —CH 2 —CH(R 5 )—O— and —CH 2 —C(R 5 )(OH)—, in which each R 5 is independently hydrogen or alkyl of one to six carbon atoms; n is about 5 to about 400; T is hydrogen, alkyl of one to eight carbon atoms, or phenyl; Q is —CO 2 (CH 2 ) m —, —CONH(CH 2 ) m —, —(CH 2 ) m —, —CO 2 C 6 H 4 —, or —C 6 H 4 —, in which m is 1 to 5; G ⊕ is selected from ammonium, sulfonium, phosphonium, and iodonium; and D θ is selected from the group consisting of infrared absorbing cyanine anions that have a total of two to four groups selected from sulfonate groups, sulfate groups, and mixtures thereof; infrared absorbing oxonol anions; and mixtures thereof.