THERMAL IMAGING METHOD AND ELEMENT AND THERMOSENSITIVE COMPOUND

摘要

A thermal imaging method is provided which comprises heating imagewise a di- or triarylmethane compound possessing within its di- or triarylmethane structure an aryl group substituted in the ortho position to the meso carbon atom with a moiety ring-closed on the meso carbon atom directly through a nitrogen atom, which nitrogen atom is also bound to a group with a masked acyl substituent that undergoes fragmentation upon heating to liberate the acyl group for effecting intramolecular acylation of said nitrogen atom to form a new group in the ortho position whereby the di- or triarylmethane compound is rendered colored in an imagewise pattern corresponding to said imagewise heating.