Transient Protection of Intramolecular Hydrogen Bonding: A Simple but Elegant Approach for Functional Imaging

We have developed a novel method for patterning functional images in thin polymer films. The key materials we utilized for the imaging were dihydroxyanthraquinones protected with acid-labile tert-butoxycarbonyl (t-Boc) blocking groups. Among the tested compounds, 1,4-dihydroxyanthraquinone (quinizarin; 1) underwent the most drastic change in terms of its color and fluorescence upon protection. We prepared the t-Boc-protected quinizarin and polymers bearing the protected quinizarins as pendent groups. To investigate the possibility of a single-component imaging system, we synthesized a styrenic monomer 14 incorporating protected quinizarin and a maleimide derivative 15 bearing a photoacid generating group and subjected them to polymerization. Selective removal of the protecting groups of the quinizarin moieties in the exposed area using photolithographic techniques allowed regeneration of quinizarin and patterned fluorescence images in the polymer films.