Photocurable oligo(hemiacetal ester)s having methacrylate side chains

Two types of oligo(hemiacetal ester)s which have methacrylate units and tertiary ester linkages in the side chains were synthesized by polyaddition of corresponding dicarboxylic acid with divinyl ether. One oligomer has a ortho linked main-chain structure, and the other one has meta and para linked main-chain structure. These oligomers were applied to a photocrosslinking system having photo/thermal degradable properties. On UV irradiation at 365 nm under N₂ atmosphere, oligomer films containing methyladamantyl methacrylate (MADMA), 2,2-dimethoxy-2-phenylacetophenone (DMPA), triphenylsulfonium triflate (TPST) became insoluble in acetone. Insolubilization behavior was not influenced by the difference of main-chain structure. When the crosslinked oligomer/MADMA films were irradiated at 254 nm and followed by baking, they became soluble in acetone. The effective baking temperature depended on the oligomer structure. The cleavage of hemiacetal ester and tertiary ester linkages was confirmed by FT-IR spectroscopy.