Abstract: There are provided internally cross-linked, stables polymeric materials, in the form of substantially spherical particles, each particle consisting essentially of a single macromolecule. They have the unusual property of being soluble or dispersible in a liquid medium without significantly increasing the viscosity of the medium, rendering them potentially useful in imaging applications such as ink jet printers. They can be prepared by dissolving polymeric material in a solvent system to form a solution of the polymeric material at a concentration therein of less than the critical concentration for the polymer, causing the polymeric material to contract into an approximately spheroidal conformation in solution, cross-linking the polymeric material in solution in said spheroidal conformation so assumed, and recovering stable, cross-linked approximately spheroidal polymeric particles from the solution.

Abstract: Novel antenna polymers characterized by a polymeric background of a biodegradable water soluble polymer and chromophores chemically bonded to the polymeric background have been found to be useful as photocatalysts in aqueous media. On completion of the desired photochemical reaction, the residual medium can safely be discharged to the natural environment as the catalyst residues undergo biodegradation to form environmentally harmless products.

Abstract: There are provided internally cross-linked, stable polymeric materials, in the form of substantially spherical particles, each particle consisting essentially of a single macromolecule. They have the unusual property of being soluble or dispersible in a liquid medium without significantly increasing the viscosity of the medium, rendering them potentially useful in imaging applications such as ink jet printers. They can be prepared by dissolving polymeric material in a solvent system to form a solution of the polymeric material at a concentration therein of less than the critical concentration for the polymer, causing the polymeric material to contract into an approximately spheroidal conformation in solution, cross-linking the polymeric material in solution in said spheroidal conformation so assumed, and recovering stable, cross-linked approximately spheroidal polymeric particles from the solution.

Abstract: Novel antenna polymers characterized by a polymeric background of a biodegradable water soluble polymer and chromophores chemically bonded to the polymeric background have been found to be useful as photocatalysts in aqueous media. On completion of the desired photochemical reaction, the residual medium can safely be discharged to the natural environment as the catalyst residues undergo biodegradation to form environmentally harmless products.

Abstract: There are provided internally cross-linked, stable polymeric materials, in the form of substantially spherical particles, each particle consisting essentially of a single macromolecule. They have the unusual property of being soluble or dispersible in a liquid medium without significantly increasing the viscosity of the medium, rendering them potentially useful in imaging applications such as ink jet printers. They can be prepared by dissolving polymeric material in a solvent system to form a solution of the polymeric material at a concentration therein of less than the critical concentration for the polymer, causing the polymeric material to contract into an approximately spheroidal conformation in solution, cross-linking the polymeric material in solution in said spheroidal conformation so assumed, and recovering stable, cross-linked approximately spheroidal polymeric particles from the solution.

Abstract: Polymers are randomly labelled with labelling groups such as fluorophores, by a process of creating free radicals on the polymer in the presence of a stable free radical, such as an aminooxyl compound, so that the stable free radical group bonds to the polymer in random fashion. Labelling groups such as fluorophores are attached to the stable free radical groups, before or after they are attached to the polymer. The process allows labelling of polymers having no reactive functional groups, it can also be applied to the labelling of nucleic acids, for use in conjunction with a PCR chain extension sequencing process, to allow the sequencing of target nucleic acids of high molecular weight.

Abstract: Hydrogen peroxide is produced by a process which uses solid, insoluble, supported anthraquinone as catalyst. The supported anthraquinone is converted to supported anthrahydroquinone utilizing soluble reducing agentsor by hydrogenation with a hydrogen-donating organic substrate such as an alcohol, followed by reaction with oxygen, to regenerate anthraquinone and to form hydrogen peroxide, which can be solvent extracted from the solid catalyst.

Abstract: Hydrogen peroxide is produced by a process which uses as catalyst a polymer which has anthraquinone/anthrahydroquinone groups attached to it, and which exhibits differential solubility in water. The polymer is water soluble under one set of conditions, e.g. temperature range, but insoluble under another set of such conditions. Accordingly, the polymer bound anthrahydroquinone groups are oxidized in aqueous solution to form anthraquinone groups and hydrogen peroxide, which dissolves in the aqueous medium. Then the conditions, e.g. temperature, are changed to precipitate the polymer, which can readily be separated off, ready for re-use.

Abstract: A photoactivatable drug delivery system is provided, in which a drug is combined e.g. by covalent bonding, incorporation in a matrix or encapsulation, with a photosensitive macromolecule. In combination, the drug is inert. The macromolecule is large enough to prevent migration of the combination within the body, so that the combination can be implanted at a location of maximum effectiveness. The drug is released from the combination, in therapeutically active form, upon appropriate irradiation.

Abstract: Hydrogen peroxide is produced by a process which uses solid, insoluble, supported anthraquinone as catalyst. The catalyst is reduced to supported anthrahydroquinone using a hydrogen-donating organic substrate such as an alcohol, followed by reaction with oxygen, suitably photochemical reaction, to regenerate anthraquinone and to form hydrogen peroxide, which can be solvent extracted from the solid catalyst.

Abstract: The invention disclosed is a hydrogel-forming wound dressing or skin coating material suitable for household and veterinary use, consisting substantially entirely of wound-compatible and skin-compatible ingredients and comprising a first hydrophilic polymer, selected from polymers or copolymers of acrylic acid, polymers or copolymers of methacrylic acid, polymers or copolymers of itaconic acid, polymers or copolymers of maleic acid and polymers or copolymers of 3-butene-1,2,3-tricarboxylic acid, or combinations thereof, a second hydrophilic polymer which is capable of interacting with the first polymer to produce, upon drying, a hydrogel of improved water resistance and film forming properties relative to the first polymer alone and water. This material is film forming and substantially transparent but capable of being made opaque.

Abstract: The invention disclosed is a hydrogel-forming wound dressing or skin coating material suitable for household and veterinary use, consisting substantially entirely of wound-compatible and skin-compatible ingredients and comprising a first hydrophilic polymer, selected from polymers or copolymers of acrylic acid, polymers or copolymers of methacrylic acid, polymers or copolymers of itaconic acid, polymers or copolymers of maleic acid and polymers or copolymers of 3-butene-1,2,3-tricarboxylic acid, or combinations thereof, a second hydrophilic polymer which is capable of interacting with the first polymer to produce, upon drying, a hydrogen of improved water resistance and film forming properties relative to the first polymer alone and water. This material is film forming and substantially transparent but capable of being made opaque.

Abstract: Condensation copolymers such as polyesters are rendered photodegradable, by subjecting them to conditions under which they undergo ester interchange effectively causing polymer chain scission, in the presence of a keto carbonyl containing compound having chemical groups reactive with the condensation polymer products formed by the ester interchange. The compound reacts chemically with the polymer products to reform the high molecular weight condensation copolymer, but with the keto carbonyl groups chemically linked into the polymer chains to confer photodegradability thereon.

Abstract: Polymers of fluorene containing compounds which form crosslinked networks are found to provide useful negative photoresists which are sensitive in the ultraviolet wavelength range of between about 200 nm to 300 nm. When used in negative photoresist compositions, these fluorene compounds produce a high resolution and thus higher information density in microcircuits manufactured using these photoresists.

Abstract: Polymers of fluorene containing compounds which form crosslinked networks are found to provide useful negative photoresists which are sensitive in the ultraviolet wavelength range of between about 200 nm to 300 nm. When used in negative photoresist compositions, these fluorene compounds produce a high resolution and thus higher information density in microcircuits manufactured using these photoresists.

Abstract: A novel class of copolymeric negative photoresists is provided whose sensitivity is based upon the presence of .alpha.-chloro ketone moieties. The general structure for the monomers from which the copolymers can be formed is: ##STR1## where R is a substituent selected from 1 to 6 carbon alkyl and halogen substitutes alkyl, phenyl, and halogen substituted phenyl and napthyl and the comonomers are comonomers selected from the group consisting of 1-4 carbon alkyl acrylates and methacrylates, styrene vinyl toluene and vinyl acetate and may include additionally other comonomers that are compatible and have the polymerizable >C.dbd.C< group. The copolymers form crosslinked networks and provide useful negative photoresists which are sensitive in the ultraviolet wavelength range of between about 200 nm to 300 nm.

Abstract: Photochemical reactions are conducted using polymer beads arranged as a monolayer, e.g. floating on the surface of a moving body of water. The polymer bead is impregnated with a reactant, floated on the water or otherwise exposed as a monolayer in direct sunlight so as to expose the reactant to solar radiation, collected at a downstream location, treated to remove product from the polymer, and then the bead can be recycled. The process can be used to collect and store solar energy in chemical form, or for conducting photochemical synthesis to produce useful chemical products.

Abstract: Photoresist materials that are sensitive in suitable range including the 200 nm to 300 nm ultraviolet radiation range are provided which permit relatively higher resolution and thus a higher information density in microcircuits. The positive photoresist materials are copolymers of(a) monomers selected from those of 1,4-disubstituted-2-butene-1,4-diones of the general structures of ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1, R.sub.2 are the same or different and are substituent selected from the group of 1 to 6 carbon atom alkyl and halogen substitutes alkyl radicals methoxy and ethoxy radicals, aryl, halogen substituted aryl, alkyl substituted aryl, alkoxy substituted aryl, nitro substituted aryl, cyano substituted aryl and amino substituted aryl radicals, and benzyl, naphthyl and anthryl radicals with(b) at least one vinylidene monomer of the general formula ##STR2## where R.sub.3 represents hydrogen, halogen or an alkyl group, and R.sub.

Abstract: Negative photoresist materials are provided that are sensitive in the deep ultraviolet (UV) light range of about 200 nm-300 nm. These materials permit higher resolution then those sensitive to longer wavelengths and thus a higher information density in the microcircuits manufactured using them. This sensitivity in the deep UV is obtained without loss of the other normal attributes of a resist material: good adhesion to substrates, good contrast in images formed, and good etch resistance properties.The polymeric negative photoresist molecules are the homopolymers of N-benzyl acrylamide and its analogues of the general structure ##STR1## where R=alkyl, aryl, halogen, or nitrogen, and copolymers thereof with at least one vinylidene monomer of the general formula ##STR2## wherein R.sub.2 and R.sub.

Abstract: There is provided a flocculating process, especially for clay-water suspensions, in which high molecular weight polymers of N-loweralkyl substituted acrylamides and methacrylamides are used as flocculating agent. There are also provided novel polymeric flocculating agents which have the property of exhibiting a critical flocculation temperature, below which they will cause flocculation of suspended solids but above which they are ineffective as flocculants.