Aqueous developable high performance photosensitive curable aromatic ether polymers

A polymer having terminal end groups and monomer repeat units, at least some of said monomer repeat units having water-solubility- or water-dispersability-imparting substituents and at least some monomer repeat units having photosensitivity-imparting substituents which enable crosslinking or chain extension of the polymer upon exposure to actinic radiation, said polymer having monomer repeat units (a) of the formula ##STR135## wherein x is an integer of 0 or 1;

• PW is a functional group which imparts both photosensitivity and water solubility or dispersability to polymers of formula I and is selected from (i) unsaturated ammonium groups of the formula ##STR136## wherein X is ##STR137## R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 each, independently of the other, are hydrogen atoms, alkyl groups, substituted alkyl groups, aryl groups, substituted aryl groups, arylalkyl groups, or substituted arylalkyl groups, wherein R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 can be joined to form a ring, R.sub.3 is an alkylene group, a substituted alkylene group, an arylene group, a substituted arylene group, an arylalkylene group, or a substituted arylalkylene group, R.sub.4, R.sub.5, and R.sub.6 each, independently of the others, are hydrogen atoms, alkyl groups, substituted alkyl groups, aryl groups, substituted aryl groups, arylalkyl groups, or substituted arylalkyl groups, wherein two or more of R.sub.4, R.sub.5, and R.sub.6 can be joined together to form a ring, and R.sub.7 and R.sub.8 each, independently of the other, are hydrogen atoms, alkyl groups, substituted alkyl groups, aryl groups, substituted aryl groups, arylalkyl groups, or substituted arylalkyl groups, x is an integer of from 1 to about 6, y is an integer of from 1 to about 50, and R and R' each, independently of the other, are hydrogen atoms or alkyl groups;
• (ii) unsaturated phosphonium groups;
• (iii) unsaturated ether groups;
• or (iv) mixtures thereof;
• P is a functional group which imparts photosensitivity to polymers of formula III and is selected from unsaturated ester groups, alkylcarboxymethylene groups, ether groups, epoxy groups, allyl ether groups, hydroxyalkyl groups, unsaturated ammonium groups, unsaturated phosphonium groups, or mixtures thereof;
• W is a functional group which imparts water solubility or dispersability to polymers of formula III and is selected from quaternary ammonium groups, quaternary phosphonium groups, sulfonium groups, or mixtures thereof;
• a, b, c, and d are each integers of 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4, provided that at least one of a, b, c, and d is equal to or greater than 1 in at least some of the monomer repeat units of polymers of formula I;
• e, f, g, h, i, j, k, and m are each integers of 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4, provided that the sum of i+e is no greater than 4, the sum of j+f is no greater than 4, the sum of k+g is no greater than 4, and the sum of m+h is no greater than 4, provided that at least one of e, f, g, and h is equal to at least 1 in at least some of the monomer repeat units of polymers of formula III, and provided that at least one of i, j, k, and m is equal to at least 1 in at least some of the monomer repeat units of polymers of formula III;
• n is an integer representing the number of repeating monomer units;
• and either (1) A is ##STR138## or mixtures thereof, and B is ##STR139##
• --(CH.sub.2).sub.v--
• wherein v is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR140## wherein z is an integer of from 2 to about 20, ##STR141## wherein u is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR142## wherein w is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR143## or mixtures thereof;
• or (2) A is
• --C(CH.sub.3).sub.2 --
• and B is ##STR144## wherein z is an integer of from 2 to about 20, ##STR145## wherein u is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR146## wherein w is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR147## or mixtures thereof;
• or (b) of the formula ##STR148## wherein x is an integer of 0 or 1, PW is a functional group which imparts both photosensitivity and water solubility or dispersability to polymers of formula II, P is a functional group which imparts photosensitivity to polymers of formula IV, W is a functional group which imparts water solubility or dispersability to polymers of formula IV, a, b, c, and d are each integers of 0, 1, 2,3, or 4, provided that at least one of a, b, c, and d is equal to or greater than 1 in at least some of the monomer repeat units of polymers of formula II, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, and m are each integers of 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4, provided that the sum of i+e is no greater than 4, the sum of j+f is no greater than 4, the sum of k+g is no greater than 4, and the sum of m+h is no greater than 4, provided that at least one of e, f, g, and h is equal to at least 1 in at least some of the monomer repeat units of polymers of formula IV, and provided that at least one of i, j, k, and m is equal to at least 1 in at least some of the monomer repeat units of polymers of formula IV, wherein for formulae I, II, III, and IV, A is ##STR149## or mixtures thereof, B is ##STR150## wherein v is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR151## wherein z is an integer of from 2 to about 20, ##STR152## wherein u is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR153## wherein w is an integer of from 1 to about 20, ##STR154## or mixtures thereof, and n is an integer representing the number of repeating monomer units.