Quaternary ammonium hydroxides

1. A method of removing a residue from a surface, comprising:

applying to the surface a composition comprising:

(a) a quaternary ammonium hydroxide having a general formula (I):

wherein in the general formula (I):

R 1 may be C 1 -C 18 linear or branched alkyl, C 2 -C 18 linear or branched alkanol, C 3 -C 18 linear or branched polyol, benzyl, or substituted benzyl, wherein when present, substituted benzyl is substituted with one or more of C 1 -C 4 alkyl, C 1 -C 4 alkoxy, or halogen, or R 1 may have the following general formulae (i) or (ii):

wherein in general formulae (i) and (ii), R 6 is independently C 1 -C 4 branched or unbranched alkyl;

R 2 and R 3 may be independently C 1 -C 18 linear or branched alkyl, C 2 -C 18 linear or branched alkanol, C 3 -C 18 linear or branched polyol, benzyl, or substituted benzyl, wherein when present, substituted benzyl is substituted with one or more of C 1 -C 4 alkyl, C 1 -C 4 alkoxy, or halogen, or

R 1 is as defined above, and R 2 and R 3 may together form a heterocyclic ring containing the quaternary ammonium N atom of the general formula (I) and 4 to 7 carbon atoms, or

R 1 is as defined above, and R 2 and R 3 may together form a heterocyclic ring containing the quaternary ammonium nitrogen atom of the general formula (I), and either a second nitrogen atom or an oxygen atom and 3 to 6 carbon atoms, wherein the second nitrogen atom may be substituted with one or two groups independently selected from C 1 -C 18 linear or branched alkyl, C 2 -C 18 linear or branched alkanol, C 3 -C 18 linear or branched polyol, benzyl, or substituted benzyl, wherein when present, substituted benzyl is substituted with one or more of C 1 -C 4 alkyl, C 1 -C 4 alkoxy, or halogen, or

R 1 , R 2 , and R 3 together may form a bicyclic structure containing from two to four carbon atoms between first and second bridgehead positions, wherein the quaternary N atom of the general formula (I) is at the first bridgehead position, and a carbon or a tertiary or quaternary nitrogen is at the second bridgehead position, wherein when the second bridgehead position is a carbon or a quaternary nitrogen, the carbon or quaternary nitrogen is substituted with R 5 , in which R 5 is H or a C 1 -C 4 branched or unbranched alkyl group, and

R 4 is C 1 -C 18 linear or branched alkyl, phenyl or substituted phenyl, or benzyl or substituted benzyl, wherein when present, substituted phenyl or substituted benzyl is substituted with one or more of C 1 -C 4 alkyl, C 1 -C 4 alkoxy, or halogen; and

(b) a dipolar aprotic solvent substantially free of water; and

removing at least a substantial portion of the residue from the surface.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the quaternary ammonium hydroxide has one of the following structures:

based on the general formula (I).

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the quaternary ammonium hydroxide has general formula (II):

wherein, in general formula (II), each of a, b and c are independently 2-4, R 5 is H or a C 1 -C 4 branched or unbranched alkyl.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the quaternary ammonium hydroxide has general formula (III):

wherein, in general formula (III), each of a, b and c are independently 2-4, R 5 is a C 1 -C 4 branched or unbranched alkyl, and X is a halide or OH.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the quaternary ammonium hydroxide has general formula (IV):

wherein in general formula (IV), each of a, b and c are independently 2-4.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the dipolar aprotic solvent comprises one or more of dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), dimethylsulfone, N-methylpyrrolidinone (NMP), N-ethylpyrrolidinone (NEP), pyridine, acetone, ethyl acetate, dimethyl acetamide, tetramethylene sulfone, nitrobenzene, dimethyl carbonate, diethyl carbonate, ethylene carbonate, propylene carbonate, tetramethyl urea, acetonitrile, propionitrile, hexamethylphosphoramide, piperylene sulfone, N-methylmorpholine oxide, sulfolane, gamma-butyrolactone and dimethylformamide (DMF).

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the composition further comprises one or a mixture of two or more of a surfactant, a corrosion inhibitor, and a metal chelating agent.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the surfactant comprises one or a mixture of any two or more of an anionic surfactant, a cationic surfactant, a nonionic surfactant, a fluoroalkyl surfactant, polyethylene glycols, polypropylene glycols, polyethylene glycol ethers, polypropylene glycol ethers, carboxylic acid salts, dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid or salts thereof, polyacrylate polymers, silicone or modified silicone polymers, acetylenic diols or modified acetylenic diols, alkylammonium or modified alkylammonium salts.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the corrosion inhibitor comprises one or a mixture of any two or more of catechol; C 1 -C 6 alkylcatechols, phenols, pyrogallol, benzotriazole; C 1 -C 10 alkylbenzotriazoles, formic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, isobutyric acid, oxalic acid, malonic acid, succinic acid, glutaric acid, maleic acid, fumaric acid, benzoic acid, phthalic acid, 1,2,3-benzenetricarboxylic acid, glycolic acid, lactic acid, malic acid, citric acid, acetic anhydride, phthalic anhydride, maleic anhydride, succinic anhydride, salicylic acid, gallic acid, organic salts of the foregoing organic acids, wherein the organic salt comprises one or more of ethanolamine, trimethylamine, diethylamine and aminopyridines, methyl gallate, propyl gallate, ethanolamine, trimethylamine, diethylamine and pyridines, such as 2-aminopyridine, phosphoric acid-based chelate compounds, 1,2-propanediaminetetramethylene phosphonic acid and hydroxyethane phosphonic acid, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and its sodium and ammonium salts, dihydroxyethylglycine and nitrilotriacetic acid, bipyridine, tetraphenylporphyrin, phenanthroline, dimethylglyoxime and diphenylglyoxime.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein the metal chelating agent comprises one or a mixture of any two or more of (ethylenedinitrilo)tetraacetic acid (EDTA), terpyridine, citric acid, gluconic acid, gallic acid, pyrogallol, salicylaldoxime, 8-hydroxyquinoline, polyalkylenepolyamines, crown ethers, oxalic acid, maleic acid, malonic acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, aspartic acid, benzoic acid, gluconic acid, glycolic acid, succinic acid, salts of the aforementioned acids, acetylacetone, glycine, dithiocarbamates, amidoximes, catechol, and cysteine.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the residue comprises one or more of a post-bake residue from a polymeric material, an at least partially decomposed polymeric material, a residue derived from a photoresist, and a spin-on dielectric material.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the surface is a component of a semiconductor device in a manufacturing process.