Image recording material and lithographic printing plate precursor

A lithographic printing plate precursor comprising a support and a recording layer, the recording layer comprising (a) aninfrared ray absorber, (c) a water-insoluble and alkali-soluble resin, and (d) a polymer having a structural unit represented by the following formula (IV):

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• wherein a bond represented by a broken line means that a methyl group or a hydrogen atom is present in an end terminal thereof, X represents a divalent linking group, Z′ represents a monovalent hydrophilic group, m is from 0.2 to 0.95 and n represents an integer of from 6 to 40, a solubility of the recording layer in an alkaline aqueous solution increasing upon exposure with infrared laser.

An image recording material capable of undergoing image formation upon exposure with infrared laser, which comprises (a) an infrared ray absorber, (b) a base polymer and (c) a long-chain alkyl group-containing polymer having a reduction rate of coefficient of friction to the base polymer of from 0.5 to 0.97 and being a copolymer of a long-chain alkyl group-containing monomer having 6 or more carbon atoms and a hydrophilic monomer.

A lithographic printing plate precursor comprising a support and a recording layer capable of undergoing image formation upon exposure with infrared laser, the recording layer comprising (a) an infrared ray absorber, (b) a base polymer and (c) a long-chain alkyl group-containing polymer having a reduction rate of coefficient of friction to the base polymer of from 0.5 to 0.97 and being a copolymer of a long-chain alkyl group-containing monomer having 6 or more carbon atoms and a hydrophilic monomer.

An image recording material comprising a support and a recording layer capable of undergoing image formation upon exposure with infrared rays, the recording layer comprising a long-chain alkyl group-containing polymer and an infrared ray absorber, with fine protrusions comprising the long-chain alkyl group-containing polymer being present on a surface of the recording layer.