Nonlinear organic reactions to proliferate acidic and basic molecules and their applications

Acid amplifiers derived from a certain class of sulfonates suffer from autocatalytic decomposition in the presence of a strong acid to give corresponding sulfonic acids, which catalyze the decomposition of the parent sulfonates, leading to the liberation of more of the same sulfonic acids in an exponential manner. Five types of acid amplifiers displaying acid proliferation reactions are presented. A certain type of carbamate exhibits autocatalytic fragmentation to give the corresponding aliphatic amine and olefin together with carbon dioxide, whereas the generated amine is able to act as a catalyst for the fragmentation so that the carbamates are referred to as base amplifiers. Applications of acid and base amplifiers to photofunctional materials, including photoresists, are described as a consequence of the combination of the molecular amplifiers with photoacid as well as photobase generators. Practical applications of acid proliferation reactions in polymer films are discussed.