| Abstract: | Carbamoyloxyimino (COI) groups are precursors of photochemically base‐generating groups as well as those of thermally isocyanate‐generating groups. In this study, photochemical and thermal reactions of COI groups in oligomers were investigated by spectral analyses and solubility changes. Oligomers bearing three types of COI groups were prepared. COI groups in all oligomer films were photolyzed on irradiation with 254 nm of light and were deblocked to form isocyanato groups on heating. From the IR spectral analyses, the formation of urea linkage was confirmed by the decrease in isocyanato groups and peak generation because of urea groups on postexposure bake (PEB) treatment. For all oligomer films, PEB was effective for the enhancement of insolubilization of the films in tetrahydrofuran. Heating followed by irradiation was also effective for the insolubilization. These results indicated that photochemical and thermal treatments of COI groups afforded highly sensitive crosslinking systems because of photochemically generated basic groups and thermally generated isocyanato groups. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 2612–2620, 2004 |
