Generation of bases and anions from inorganic and organometallic photoinitiators

Photosensitive materials composed of a substrate (monomer, oligomer or polymer) and a photoinitiator play a central role in numerous commercial processes. Most photoinitiators in common use are organic compounds that, upon irradiation, produce radicals and/or acids, The desire to expand the scope of photoinitiated chemistry has led to the recent discovery of several classes of inorganic and organometallic photoinitiators that photochemically release neutral Lewis bases and/or anions, This article provides an overview of the author's research program to develop novel photobase and photoanion generators. Fundamental studies of these systems and examples of their potential applications are described. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.