Patent ID: 6861201

Claim:
A near infrared sensitive composition, comprising: (a) a near infrared dye photochemical sensitizer that enables the composition to undergo either (i) effective photopolymerization or (ii) effective photoimaging upon exposure to near infrared radiation, the near infrared dye is a compound of formula I: wherein substituent A is chosen from (1) a 5-6 membered heterocyclic ring system having 1-3 ring heteroatoms, in which the heteroatom is a nitrogen atom, which is substituted with a hydrogen atom, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, (CH 2 ) m CO 2 H or (CH 2 ) m CO 2 (C 1 -C 6 alkyl) and the carbon atom of the herocyclic ring system may be substituted with an oxygen atom to form a carbonyl or enolate anion and m is an integer ranging from 0-4; (2) a 5-6 membered carbocyclic moiety substituted with a hydrogen atom or a C 1 -C 6 alkyl group wherein a carbon atom of the alkyl group may be substituted with oxygen to form a carbonyl or enolate anion; (3) a quinoline or isoquinoline group wherein the nitrogen atom is directly bonded to the carbocyclic moiety of formula I; (4) N,N-bisaryl or bis(C 1 -C 6 alkyl) or bisaryl(C 1 -C 6 alkyl)amine wherein the aryl group is a naphthyl or phenyl group which is unsubstituted or substituted with a fluorine atom, bromine atom, chlorine atom, OCH 3 , CF 3 , OH, or C 1 -C 6 alkyl; (5) a heterocyclic ring system having at least one nitrogen atom bonded directly to the carbocyclic ring of formula I and a group Z which is a carbon atom, NR 8 , oxygen atom or sulfur atom wherein R 8 is a hydrogen atom, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, CO 2 H or CO 2 C 1 -C 6 alkyl; substitutent D 1 is a 9-15 membered heterocyclic system comprising a heteroaryl ring system having at least one heteroatom group (U) which is an NR 3 group, oxygen atom, sulfur atom or PR 3 group which is directly bonded to the aryl portion of the heteroaryl ring system and wherein R 3 is a C 1 -C 6 alkyl which may be unsubstituted or substituted with CO 2 H, SO 3 H or salts thereof and wherein the aryl ring may be unsubstituted or substituted with OCH 3 , CF 3 , bromine atom, chlorine atom, fluorine atom, C 1 -C 6 alkyl or OH or a fused ring polycyclic hetercyclic system; substituent D 2 has the identical heterocyclic system as substituent D 1 except that when U is NR 3 , the nitrogen atom is quaternized to form an amine salt which is neutralized by an enolate anion from A when A is a substituted pyrimidine like moiety or by a discrete (non intra-molecular) anion, provided that the discrete (non intra-molecular) anion is not a borate anion; n is an integer ranging from 1-2; (b) a hexaarylbiimidazole compound as photoinitiator; (c) a photopolymerizable material and a chain transfer agent, or, instead of (c), (d) a photoimageable dye.