Solvent resistant imageable element

1. An imageable element comprising a top layer over a substrate, in which:

the imageable element comprises a co-polymer or mixture of co-polymers, that comprise, in polymerized form:

(a) about 10 wt % to 75 wt % of a monomer selected from the group consisting of monomers of structure I, monomers of structure II, and mixtures thereof;

in which:

R′ is hydrogen, halogen, or C 1 to C 6 alkyl;

X is —C(CH 3 ) 2 —, —(CH 2 ) n —, or —CH(CH 3 )—;

Y=—N(H)— or —O—; and

n=0 to 12;

the co-polymer or mixture of copolymers is soluble in an alkaline solution having a pH greater than about 8;

the top layer is not removable by an alkaline developer before thermal imaging;

imaged regions of the top layer are removable by the alkaline developer after thermal imaging;

the imageable element additionally comprises a photothermal conversion material or a mixture of photothermal conversion materials;

the imageable element comprises an underlayer between the top layer and the substrate; and

the underlayer comprises the photothermal conversion material and the co-polymer.

2. The imageable element of claim 1 in which the co-polymer additionally comprises, in polymerized form:

(b) about 1 mol % to about 55 mol % of a monomer selected from the group consisting of N-phenylmaleimide, N-cyclohexylmaleimide, N-benzylmaleimide, and mixtures thereof; and

in polymerized form, two or more of:

(c) about 5 mol % to 40 mol % of a monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, and mixtures thereof;

(d) about 1 wt % to about 30 wt % of a monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylamide, methacrylamide, and mixtures thereof; and

(e) about 20 wt % to about 80 wt % of a monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, and mixtures thereof.

3. An imageable element comprising a top layer over a substrate, in which:

the imageable element comprises a co-polymer or mixture of co-polymers, that comprise, in polymerized form:

(a) about 10 wt % to 75 wt % of a monomer selected from the group consisting of monomers of structure I, monomers of structure II, and mixtures thereof;

in which:

R′ is hydrogen or methyl;

X is —C(CH 3 ) 2 —, —(CH 2 ) n —, or —CH(CH 3 )—;

Y is —O—; and

n=0 to 4;

the co-polymer or mixture of copolymers is soluble in an alkaline solution having a pH greater than about 8;

the top layer is not removable by an alkaline developer before thermal imaging; and

imaged regions of the top layer are removable by the alkaline developer after thermal imaging; and

the imageable element additionally comprises a photothermal conversion material or a mixture of photothermal conversion materials.

4. The imageable element of claim 3 in which the co-polymer additionally comprises, in polymerized form, two or more of:

(b) about 1 mol to about 55 mol % of a monomer selected from the group consisting of N-phenylmaleimide, N-cyclohexylmaleimide, N-benzylmaleimide, and mixtures thereof;

(c) about 5 mol % to 40 mol % of a monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, and mixtures thereof;

(d) about 1 wt % to about 30 wt % of a monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylamide, methacrylamide, and mixtures thereof; and

(e) about 20 wt % to about 80 wt % of a monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, and mixtures thereof.

5. The imageable element of claim 3 in which the co-polymer additionally comprises, in polymerized form:

(b) about 1 mol % to about 55 mol % of a monomer selected from the group consisting of N-phenylmaleimide, N-cyclohexylmaleimide, N-benzylmaleimide, and mixtures thereof; and,

in polymerized form, two or more of:

(c) about 5 mol % to 40 mol % of a monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, and mixtures thereof;

(d) about 1 wt % to about 30 wt % of a monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylamide, methacrylamide, and mixtures thereof; and

(e) about 20 wt % to about 80 wt % of a monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, and mixtures thereof.

6. The imageable element of claim 5 in which the monomer selected from the group consisting of N-phenylmaleimide, N-cyclohexylmaleimide, N-benzylmaleimide, and mixtures thereof is N-phenylmaleimide; the monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, and mixtures thereof is methacrylic acid; the monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylamide, methacrylamide, and mixtures thereof is methacrylamide; and the monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, and mixtures thereof is acrylonitrile.

7. The imageable element of claim 6 in which

the top layer comprises the co-polymer;

the imageable element comprises an absorber layer which is on the substrate;

the absorber layer comprises the photothermal conversion material;

the top layer is on the absorber layer; and

the top layer comprises about 50 to about 80 wt % of a phenolic resin or mixture of phenolic resins; about 2 to about 10 wt % of a dissolution inhibitor or mixture of dissolution inhibitors; and about 10 to about 30 wt % of the co-polymer or mixture of co-polymers.

8. The imageable element of claim 6 in which:

the top layer comprises the co-polymer;

the top layer comprises the photothermal conversion material or mixture of photothermal conversion materials;

the top layer is on the substrate; and

the top layer comprises about 50 to about 80 wt % of a phenolic resin or mixture of phenolic resins; about 2 to about 10 wt % of the photothermal conversion material or mixture of photothermal conversion material; about 2 to about 10 wt % of a of a dissolution inhibitor or mixture of dissolution inhibitors; and about 10 to about 30 wt % of the co-polymer or mixture of co-polymers.

9. The imageable element of claim 8 in which the phenolic polymer is a novolac resin.

10. The imageable element of claim 6 in which:

the element comprises, in order, the top layer, an absorber layer, an underlayer, and the substrate;

the absorber layer consists essentially of the photothermal conversion material; and

the underlayer comprises the co-polymer.

11. The imageable element of claim 6 in which:

the element comprises, in order, the top layer, an underlayer, and the substrate; and

the underlayer comprises the photothermal conversion material and the co-polymer.

12. The imageable element of claim 11 in which the top layer comprises a polystyrene/maleic anhydride co-polymer.

13. The imageable element of claim 11 in which the top layer comprises a phenolic resin and a dissolution inhibitor.

14. A method for forming an image, the method comprising the steps of:

(i) thermally imaging an imageable element comprising a substrate and a top layer over the substrate; and forming an imaged imageable element comprising imaged regions and complementary unimaged regions in the top layer;

in which:

the imageable element comprises a co-polymer or mixture of co-polymers, that comprise, in polymerized form:

(a) about 10 wt % to 75 wt % of a monomer selected from the group consisting of monomers of structure I, monomers of structure II, and mixtures thereof;

in which:

R′ is hydrogen, halogen, or C 1 to C 6 alkyl;

X is —C(CH 3 ) 2 —, —(CH 2 ) n —, or —CH(CH 3 )—;

Y=—N(H)— or —O—; and

n=0 to 12;

the co-polymer or mixture of copolymers is soluble in an alkaline solution having a pH greater than about 8;

the top layer is not removable by an alkaline developer before thermal imaging; and

imaged regions of the top layer are removable by the alkaline developer after thermal imaging; and

(ii) the forming the image by developing the imaged imageable element with the alkaline developer and removing the imaged regions.

15. The method of claim 14 in which the developer is a solvent-based developer.

16. The method of claim 14 in which the developer has a pH of 12 to 14.

17. The method of claim 14 in which R′ is hydrogen or methyl; Y is —O—; and n=0 to 4.

18. The method of claim 17 in which the imageable element additionally comprises a photothermal conversion material or a mixture of photothermal conversion materials.

19. The method of claim 18 in which thermal imaging is carried out with infrared radiation.

20. The method of claim 19 in which the co-polymer additionally comprises, in polymerized form, two or more of:

(b) about 1 mol % to about 55 mol % of a monomer selected from the group consisting of N-phenylmaleimide, N-cyclohexylmaleimide, N-benzylmaleimide, and mixtures thereof;

(c) about 5 mol % to 40 mol % of a monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, and mixtures thereof;

(d) about 1 wt % to about 30 wt % of a monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylamide, methacrylamide, and mixtures thereof; and

(e) about 20 wt % to about 80 wt % of a monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, and mixtures thereof.

21. The method of claim 19 in which the co-polymer additionally comprises, in polymerized form:

(b) about 1 mol % to about 55 mol % of a monomer selected from the group consisting of N-phenylmaleimide, N-cyclohexylmaleimide, N-benzylmaleimide, and mixtures thereof; and,

in polymerized form, two or more of:

(c) about 5 mol % to 40 mol % of a monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, and mixtures thereof;

(d) about 1 wt % to about 30 wt % of a monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylamide, methacrylamide, and mixtures thereof; and

(e) about 20 wt % to about 80 wt % of a monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, and mixtures thereof.

22. The method of claim 21 in which the monomer selected from the group consisting of N-phenylmaleimide, N-cyclohexylmaleimide, N-benzylmaleimide, and mixtures thereof is N-phenylmaleimide; the monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, and mixtures thereof is methacrylic acid; the monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylamide, methacrylamide, and mixtures thereof is methacrylamide; and the monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, and mixtures thereof is acrylonitrile.

23. The method of claim 22 in which:

the top layer comprises the co-polymer;

the top layer comprises the photothermal conversion material or mixture of photothermal conversion materials;

the top layer is on the substrate; and

the top layer comprises about 50 to about 80 wt % of a phenolic resin or mixture of phenolic resins; about 2 to about 10 wt % of the photothermal conversion material or mixture of photothermal conversion material; about 2 to about 10 wt % of a of a dissolution inhibitor or mixture of dissolution inhibitors; and about 10 to about 30 wt % of the co-polymer or mixture of co-polymers.

24. The method of claim 23 in which the phenolic polymer is a novolac resin.

25. The method of claim 22 in which:

the element comprises, in order, the top layer, an underlayer, and the substrate; and

the underlayer comprises the photothermal conversion material and the co-polymer.

26. The method of claim 25 in which the top layer comprises a polystyrene/maleic anhydride co-polymer.

27. The method of claim 25 in which the top layer comprises a phenolic resin and a dissolution inhibitor.

28. The method of claim 27 in which the developer is a solvent-based developer.

29. The imageable element of claim 2 in which the monomer selected from the group consisting of N-phenylmaleimide, N-cyclohexylmaleimide, N-benzylmaleimide, and mixtures thereof is N-phenylmaleimide; the monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, and mixtures thereof is methacrylic acid; the monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylamide, methacrylamide, and mixtures thereof is methacrylamide; and the monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, and mixtures thereof is acrylonitrile.