Substituted benzene developing solvent for photopolymerizable printing plates
Flexographic printing plates are produced by exposing the photopolymer plates to a light source and washing out (developing) the masked out, non-exposed areas with a solvent. The invention provides substituted benzene solvents suitable for use in the development of photopolymer printing plates. The solvents, which include substituted benzene alone or mixed with co-solvents and/or non-solvents, are effective in developing a large number of different photopolymer printing plates and can produce images superior to those obtained with commercially available solvents currently used in such applications.
1. A method for the development of photopolymerizable flexographic relief printing plates comprising
a) selecting a developing solvent, said developing solvent comprising at least one substituted benzene selected from the group consisting of
i) compound (I)
where R 1 -R 5 are the same or different, and denotes a hydrogen, hydroxyl, alkyl, alkenyl, aryl, amine/amide, ester, carboxylic acid, and aldehyde,
ii) di-sec-butyl benzene, and
iii) di-n-butyl benzene; and
b) washing an exposed flexographic relief printing plate with said developing solvent.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compound (I) is selected from the group consisting of tert-butyl benzene, tert-butyl xylene, di-ten-butyl benzene, tert-butyl toluene, di-tert-butyl toluene, di-tent-butyl xylene, 1 -tert-butyl-3,5-dimethylbenzene, and combinations thereof.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the photopolymerizable flexographic relief printing plates is selected from the group consisting of block co-polymers of styrene and butadiene, block co-polymers of styrene and isoprene, co-polymers of butadiene and acrylonitrile, terpolymers of butadiene, acrylonitrile, and acrylic acid.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the developing solvent further comprising a co-solvent.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the co-solvent is selected from the group consisting of n-butanol, 2-ethoxyethanol, benzyl alcohol, ethanol, methanol, propanol, isopropanol, alpha terpineol, dipropylene glycol methyl ether, 2-butoxyethanol, isopropyl alcohol, and 2-(2-butoxyethoxy) ethanol, cyclopentanol, cyclohexanol, cycloheptanol, substituted cyclopentanol, substituted cyclohexanol, substituted cycloheptanol, cyclopentyl substituted alcohol, cyclohexyl substituted alcohol, and cycloheptyl substituted alcohol.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the substituted cyclohexanol is 4-ethycyclohexanol.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the substituted cyclopentanol is 2,3 dimethylcyclopentanol.
8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the cyclohexyl substituted alcohol is cyclohexylpropanol.
9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the cyclopentyl substituted alcohol is 4-cyclopentylpentanol.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the developing solvent further comprising a non-solvent.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the non-solvent is selected from the group consisting of aliphatic petroleum distillates, naphthas, paraffinic solvents, hydro-treated petroleum distillates, mineral oil, mineral spirits, ligroin, decane, octane, and hexane.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the paraffinic solvents are isoparafins.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the developing solvent further comprising a co- solvent and a non-solvent.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the co-solvent is selected from the group consisting of n-butanol, 2-ethoxyethanol, benzyl alcohol, ethanol, methanol, propanol, isopropanol, alpha terpineol, dipropylene glycol methyl ether, 2-butoxyethanol, isopropyl alcohol, and 2-(2-butoxyethoxy) ethanol, cyclopentanol, cyclohexanol, cycloheptanol, substituted cyclopentanol, substituted cyclohexanol, substituted cycloheptanol, cyclopentyl substituted alcohol, cyclohexyl substituted alcohol, and cycloheptyl substituted alcohol.
15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the non-solvent is selected from the group consisting of aliphatic petroleum distillates, naphthas, paraffinic solvents, hydro-treated petroleum distillates, mineral oil, mineral spirits, ligroin, decane, octane, and hexane.
16. The method of claim 15 wherein the paraffinic solvents are isoparaffins.
17. The method of claim 13 , wherein the substitute benzene is present in an amount of about 40-70% by volume, the co-solvent is present in an amount of about 20-50% by volume, and the non-solvent is present in an amount of about 10-30% by volume.
18. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of drying the flexographic relief printing plate to remove the developing solvent.
19. A developing solvent for the development of photopolymerizable flexographic relief printing plates comprising at least one substituted benzene selected from the group consisting of
a) compound (I)
where R 1 -R 5 are the same or different, and denotes a hydrogen, hydroxyl, alkyl, alkenyl, aryl, amine/amide, ester, carboxylic acid, and aldehyde,
b) di-sec-butyl benzene, and
c) di-n-butyl benzene.
20. The developing solvent of claim 19 , wherein the compound (I) is selected from the group consisting of tert-butyl benzene, tert-butyl xylene, di-tert-butyl benzene, tert-butyl toluene, di-tert-butyl toluene, di-tert-butyl xyiene, 1-tert-butyl-3,5-dimethylbenzene, and combinations thereof.
21. The developing solvent of claim 19 , wherein the photopolymerizable flexographic relief printing plates is selected from the group consisting of block co-polymers of styrene and butadiene, block co-polymers of styrene and isoprene, co-polymers of butadiene and acrylonitrile, terpolymers of butadiene, acrylonitrile, and acrylic acid.
22. The developing solvent of claim 19 , wherein the developing solvent further comprising a co-solvent.
23. The developing solvent of claim 22 , wherein the co-solvent is selected from the group consisting of n-butanol, 2-ethoxyethanol, benzyl alcohol, ethanol, methanol, propanol, isopropanol, alpha terpineol, dipropylene glycol methyl ether, 2-butoxyethanol, isopropyl alcohol, and 2-(2-butoxyethoxy) ethanol, cyclopentanol, cyclohexanol, cycloheptanol, substituted cyclopentanol, substituted cyclohexanol, substituted cycloheptanol, cyclopentyl substituted alcohol, cyclohexyl substituted alcohol, and cycloheptyl substituted alcohol.
24. The developing solvent of claim 23 . wherein the substituted cyclohexanol is 4-ethycyclohexanol.
25. The developing solvent of claim 23 , wherein the substituted cyclopentanol is 2,3 dimethylcyclopentanol.
26. The developing solvent of claim 23 , wherein the cyclohexyl substituted alcohol is cyclohexylpropanol.
27. The developing solvent of claim 23 , wherein the cyclopentyl substituted alcohol is 4-cyclopentylpentanol.
28. The developing solvent of claim 19 , wherein the developing solvent further comprising a non-solvent.
29. The developing solvent of claim 28 , wherein the non-solvent is selected from the group consisting of aliphatic petroleum distillates, naphthas, paraffinic solvents, hydro-treated petroleum distillates, mineral oil, mineral spirits, ligroin, decane, octane, and hexane.
30. The developing solvent of claim 29 , wherein the paraffinic solvents are isoparafins.
31. The developing solvent of claim 19 , wherein the developing solvent further comprising a co-solvent and a non-solvent.
32. The developing solvent of claim 31 , wherein the co-solvent is selected from the group consisting of n-butanol, 2-ethoxyethanol, benzyl alcohol, ethanol, methanol, propanol, isopropanol, alpha terpineol, dipropylene glycol methyl ether, 2-butoxyethanol, isopropyl alcohol, and 2-(2-butoxyethoxy) ethanol, cyclopentanol, cyclohexanol, cycloheptanol, substituted cyclopentanol, substituted cyclohexanol, substituted cycloheptanol, cyclopentyl substituted alcohol, cyclohexyl substituted alcohol, and cycloheptyl substituted alcohol.
33. The developing solvent of claim 31 , wherein the non-solvent is selected from the group consisting of aliphatic petroleum distillates, naphthas, paraffinic solvents, hydro-treated petroleum distillates, mineral oil, mineral spirits, ligroin, decane, octane, and hexane.
34. The developing solvent of claim 33 , wherein the paraffinic solvents are isoparaffins.
35. The developing solvent of claim 31 , wherein the substitute benzene is present in an amount of about 40-70% by volume, the co-solvent is present in an amount of about 20-50% by volume, and the non-solvent is present in an amount of about 10-30% by volume.
36. The method of claim 4 , wherein the co-solvent stabilizes the developing solvent.