Nitrogen-containing organic compound, chemically amplified resist composition and patterning process

A nitrogen-containing organic compound having a 7-oxanorbornane-2-carboxylic ester structure, represented by the general formula (1):

• wherein R1 is hydrogen or a straight, branched or cyclic C1-C10 alkyl group;
• R2 and R3 are each independently a C1-C20 alkyl group, C6-C20 aryl group or C7-C20 aralkyl group which may contain at least one polar functional group such as ether, carbonyl, ester, alcohol, sulfide, nitrile, amine, imine or amide, and in which some hydrogen atoms may be substituted with halogen atoms, or R2 and R3, taken together, may form a heterocyclic or heteroaromatic ring of 2 to 20 carbon atoms with the nitrogen atom to which they are attached.