Radiation-sensitive mixture and recording material produced therewith

1. A radiation-sensitive mixture comprising an acrylate or methacrylate monomer and/or oligomer, the monomer and/or oligomer comprising at least two acrylate and/or methacrylate groups and at least one photooxidizable group, a photoinitiator, an IR-absorbing dye and an organic polymeric binder, the radiation-sensitive mixture being capable of radical polymerization upon exposure to near IR light, the near IR light ranging from 700 to 1200 nm, wherein the IR-absorbing dye is a heptamethinecyanine dye, wherein the photoinitiator is selected from the group consisting of phenyl trihalomethyl sulfones and phenyl trihalomethyl ketones, and wherein the photoinitiator does not absorb near IR light.

2. The mixture of claim 1 , wherein 3 methine carbon atoms in the main methine chain of the dye are part of a 5- to 7-membered isocyclic or heterocyclic ring.

3. The mixture of claim 1 , wherein the two aromatic terminal groups in the heptamethinecyanine dyes are indole and/or indolium groups with which optionally at least one further ring may also be fused.

4. The mixture of claim 1 , wherein the heptamethinecyanine dye corresponds to the formula V

R 1 ═R 2 =H or R 1 and R 2 together denote —CH═CH—CH═CH—, R 1 together with R 2 forming a six-membered fused ring,

R 3 denotes methyl, ethyl, propyl or butyl

X denotes —(CH 2 ) 3 — or —(CH 2 ) 2 —

Y denotes

or the formula VI

R 1 ═R 2 =H or R 1 and R 2 together denote —CH═CH—CH═CH—, R 1 together with R 2 forming a six-membered fused ring,

R 3 =methyl, ethyl, propyl or butyl

R 4 =H, Cl,

X=—(CH 2 ) 3 — or —(CH 2 ) 2 —

Y=Br − , Cl − , I − , pTosO − , ClO 4 − , BF 4 − or PF 6 − .

5. The mixture of claim 1 , wherein the amount of the heptamethinecyanine dye is 0.01 to 10% by weight based on the total weight of the nonvolatile components of the mixture.

6. The mixture of claim 1 , wherein the acrylate or methacrylate monomer contains two acrylate or methacrylate groups.

7. The mixture of claim 6 , wherein the photooxidizable group in the acrylate or methacrylate monomer or oligomer is a primary, secondary or tertiary amino group, a urea group, a thio group and/or a urethane group.

8. The mixture of claim 1 , wherein the amount of all photopolymerizable monomers or oligomers is 10 to 85% by weight based on the total weight of the nonvolatile components of the mixture.

9. The mixture of claim 8 , wherein the amount of photopolymerizable monomers or oligomers having photooxidizable groups is at least 40% by weight based on the total weight of all photopolymerizable monomers and/or oligomers.

10. The mixture of claim 1 , wherein the photoinitiator is a triazine compound having two trichloromethyl groups.

11. The mixture of claim 1 , wherein the amount of photoinitiator(s) is 0.1 to 20% by weight based on the total weight of the nonvolatile components of the mixture.

12. The mixture of claim 1 , wherein chlorinated polyalkylenes, alkyl or alkenyl poly(meth)acrylates, alkyl (meth)acrylate/(meth)acrylic acid copolymers, copolymers of alkyl or alkenyl (meth)acrylates with other copolymerizable monomers, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), vinyl chloride/acrylonitrile copolymers, polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC), vinylidene chloride/acrylonitrile copolymers, polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl alcohol, polyacrylonitrile, acrylonitrile/styrene copolymers, (meth)acrylamide/alkyl (meth)acrylate copolymers, acrylonitrile/butadiene/styrene (ABS) terpolymers, polystyrene, poly(α-methylstyrene), polyamides, polyurethanes, polyesters, methylcellulse, ethylcellulose, acetylcellulose, (hydroxy-(C 1 -C 4 )alkyl)cellulose, carboxymethylcellulose, polyvinylformal and/or polyvinylbutyral and α,β-unsaturated carboxylic or dicarboxylic acids are used as the binder.

13. The mixture of claim 1 , wherein the binder has an average molecular weight M w of 600 to 2000 and an acid number between 10 and 250 or a hydroxyl number of 50 to 750.

14. The mixture of claim 1 , wherein the amount of the binder or binders is 10 to 90% by weight based on the total weight of the nonvolatile components of the mixture.

15. A recording material for the production of printing plates comprising a substrate and a layer of the photopolymerizable mixture, the photopolymerizable mixture comprising an acrylate or methacrylate monomer and/or oligomer, the monomer and/or oligomer comprising at least two acrylate and/or methacrylate groups and at least one photooxidizable group, a photoinitiator, an IR-absorbing dye and an organic polymeric binder, the radiation-sensitive mixture being capable of radical polymerization upon exposure to near IR light, the near IR light ranging from 700 to 1200 nm, wherein the IR-absorbing dye is a heptamethinecyanine dye, wherein the photoinitiator is selected from the group consisting of phenyl trihalomethyl sulfones and phenyl trihalomethyl ketones, and wherein the photoinitiator does not absorb near IR light.

16. The recording material of claim 15 , wherein the substrate is a foil, a strip or a sheet of plastic or metal.

17. The recording material of claim 15 , wherein a top layer which is impermeable or only slightly permeable to oxygen is present on the radiation-sensitive layer.

18. The recording material of claim 17 , wherein the top layer consists of polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyphosphates or a sugar.

19. The recording material of claim 17 , wherein the top layer has a thickness of 0.1 to 10 μm.

20. A process for the production of a printing plate comprising

providing a recording material comprising a substrate and a layer of a photopolymerizable mixture, the photopolymerizable mixture comprising an acrylate or methacrylate monomer and/or oligomer, the monomer and/or oligomer comprising at least two acrylate and/or methacrylate groups and at least one photooxidizable group, a photoinitiator, an IR-absorbing dye and an organic polymeric binder, the radiation-sensitive mixture being capable of radical polymerization upon exposure to near IR light, the near IR light ranging from 700 to 1200 nm, wherein the IR-absorbing dye is a heptamethinecyanine dye, wherein the photoinitiator is selected from the group consisting of phenyl trihalomethyl sulfones and phenyl trihalomethyl ketones, and wherein the photoinitiator does not absorb near IR light,

imagewise exposing the recording material to IR laser beams having a wavelength between 700 and 1200 nm, and

developing the imagewise exposed recording material with an organic solvent or solvent mixture or an aqueous alkaline solution.

21. The mixture of claim 1 , wherein the photoinitiator is a phenyl trihalomethyl sulfone.