Black-and-white photographic elements and processes

A black-and-white photographic element comprising a support bearing an image-forming layer of a photographic silver halide emulsion, a color developing agent or a precursor of a color developing agent and an image-forming non-diffusible resorcinol coupler represented by the formula:

• ##STR16## where:
• LINK represents --NHCO-- or --COO--;
• and
• Ball represents an alkyl group of 3 to 20 carbon atoms, a phenyl group, or a phenyl group substituted with alkyl of 1 to 20 carbon atoms or with alkoxy of 1 to 20 carbon atoms,
• the element yielding upon exposure and development to a density of between 0.3 and 2.0, a spectrophotometric curve in which the density of any 10 nm interval in the range 420 to 650 nm does not depart by more than ten percent from the mean density over that range.

A black-and-white photographic element comprising a support bearing an image-forming layer of:

• a silver halide emulsion;
• an image-forming non-diffusible resorcinol coupler selected from the group consisting of
• 2'6'-dihydroxy-2-methoxybenzanilide,
• 2'6'-dihydroxy-4n-octylbenzanilide,
• n-octyl-2,6-dihydroxybenzoate and
• n-decyl-2,6-dihydroxybenzoate;
• a Schiff base of a p-phenylenediamine color developing agent;
• and
• a 3-pyrazolidone electron transfer agent;
• the element yielding upon exposure and development to a density of between 0.3 and 2.0, a spectrophotometric curve in which the density of any 10 nm interval in the range 420 to 650 nm does not depart by more than ten percent from the mean over that range.

A black-and-white photographic element comprising a support bearing an image-forming layer of:

• a silver halide emulsion;
• an image-forming non-diffusible resorcinol coupler selected from the group consisting of
• ' ' -dihydroxy-2-methoxybenzanilide,
• 2'6'-dihydroxy-4-n-octylbenzanilide,
• n-octyl-2,6-dihydroxybenzoate and
• n-decyl-2,6-dihydroxybenzoate;
• a p-phenylenediamine color developing agent;
• and a 3-pyrazolidone electron transfer agent;
• the element yielding upon exposure and development to a density of between 0.3 and 2.0, a spectrophotometric curve in which the density of any 10 nm interval in the range 420 to 650 nm does not depart by more than ten percent from the mean density over that range.

A process of providing a black-and-white image in an imagewise exposed photographic element comprising a support bearing an image-forming layer comprising a photographic silver halide emulsion, a color developing agent or a precursor of a color developing agent and an image-forming nondiffusible resorcinol coupler having the structure:

• ##STR17## where:
• LINK represents --NHCO--, --CONH--, --NHCONH--, --NHSO.sub.2 --, or --COO--;
• and
• Ball represents phenyl, naphthyl, substituted phenyl, substituted naphthyl, alkyl of 3 to 20 carbon atoms or a heterocyclic group containing 5 to 10 nuclear atoms,
• the element yielding upon exposure and development to a density of between 0.3 and 2.0, a spectrophotometric curve in which the density of any 10 nm interval in the range of 420 to 650 nm does not depart by more than ten percent from the mean density over that range,
• the process comprising activating the element by contacting it with an aqueous alkaline solution to develop a neutral density image as a function of exposure.

A process of providing a black-and-white image in an imagewise exposed photographic element comprising a support bearing an image-forming layer of a photographic silver halide emulsion, a color developing agent or a precursor of a color developing agent and an image-forming non-diffusible resorcinol coupler represented by the formula:

• ##STR18## where LINK represents --NHCO-- or --COO-- and
• Ball represents an alkyl group of 3 to 20 carbon atoms, a phenyl group or a phenyl group substituted with alkyl of 1 to 20 carbon atoms or with alkoxy of 1 to 20 carbon atoms,
• the element yielding upon exposure and development to a density of between 0.3 and 2.0, a spectrophotometric curve in which the density of any 10 nm interval in the range of 420 to 650 nm does not depart by more than ten percent from the mean density over that range,
• the process comprising the steps of:
• activating the element by contacting it with an aqueous alkaline activator solution to develop a neutral density image as a function of exposure;
• and fixing the developed element to remove undeveloped silver halide.

A process of providing a black-and-white image in an imagewise exposed photographic element comprising a support bearing an image-forming layer of a photographic silver halide emulsion, a color developing agent or a precursor of a color developing agent and an image-forming non-diffusible resorcinol coupler represented by the formula:

• ##STR19## where LINK represents --NHCO--OR--COO--and
• Ball represents an alkyl group of 3 to 20 carbon atoms, a phenyl group or a phenyl group substituted with alkyl of 1 to 20 carbon atoms or with alkoxy of 1 to 20 carbon atoms,
• the element yielding upon exposure and development to a density of between 0.3 and 2.0, a spectrophotometric curve in which the density of any 10 nm interval in the range of 420 to 650 nm does not depart by more than ten percent from the mean density over that range,
• the process comprising the steps of:
• activating the element by contacting it with an aqueous alkaline activator solution to develop a neutral density image as a function of exposure;
• terminating development by treating the developed element with an acid bath;
• bleach-fixing the developed element to remove developed silver and undeveloped silver halide;
• and treating the bleach-fixed element with an aqueous alkaline solution.