Polymers containing N-substituted maleimide units and their use in radiation-sensitive mixtures

#1) Field of the Invention

#The invention relates to polymers and to a positive- or negative-working radiation-sensitive mixture including a binder which is insoluble in water, but soluble or at least swellable in aqueous-alkaline solution, and at least one radiation-sensitive compound. The invention furthermore relates to a recording material having a support and a radiation-sensitive layer, and to a process for the production of chemical-resistant relief recordings in which the recording material is exposed imagewise and then developed using an aqueous-alkaline solution.

#2) Description of Related Art

#Examples of preferred embodiments are given below. In the examples, pbw stands for “part(s) by weight”. The examples are for illustrative purposes only and do not limit the scope of the invention.

#1 mol of maleic anhydride was dissolved in 150 ml of solvent. 1 mol of the respective 4-aminobenzenesulfonamide in 800 ml of the solvent was then added dropwise with ice cooling. When the addition was complete, the mixture was stirred at room temperature for one day, and the maleimide acid was then precipitated in water. The maleimide acid was dried in vacuo and then heated at 70° C. for three hours with 900 ml of acetic anhydride and 50 g of sodium acetate. The substituted maleimide was precipitated in water and dried in vacuo. The yield over the two steps was between 80 and 95% of theory. The following were obtained by this procedure:

#Monomer 1: 4-maleimidobenzenesulfonamide, prepared from maleic anhydride and sulfanilamide (=4-aminobenzenesulfonamide); (formula II: R1=R2=R3=R4=R5=H).