The present invention relates to a photochromic curable composition suited for the production of a photochromic cured product having excellent optical properties such as a high refractive index and a large Abbe's number, having favorable photochromic properties such as a large color density, and having good fatigue resistance, and to a photochromic lens obtained by curing the photochromic curable composition. The photochromic curable composition is characterized by comprising 100 parts by weight of a polymerizable monomer containing at least 10% by weight of a sulfur-containing (meth)acrylate polymerizable monomer represented by the following general formula (1), ##STR1## wherein R1, R2 and R3 may be the same or different and are hydrogen atoms or methyl groups, and n is an integer of 1 to 10, and 0.001 to 10 parts by weight of a photochromic compound.
A photochromic polymerizable composition comprising (a) a polyfunctional (meth)acrylate monomer, (b) at least one kind of chromene compound selected from the group consisting of three kinds of chromene compounds represented by particular structural formulas, and (c) a compound having at least one or more epoxy groups in the molecules. The photochromic polymerizable composition offers a photochromic material that exhibits little initial color and excellent photochromism resistance suited for use as lenses for spectacles.
A novel photoimageable system for a two-chemistry system containing liquid photoreactive asymmetric acrylate compound containing sulfur, aromatic moieties, and optionally bromine, and an aluminum salt compound is disclosed. The photoimageable system has high dynamic range (M/#) and sensitivity and unexpectedly high temperature and high humidity resistance. The photoimageable system retains its dynamic range when exposed to 60.degree. C. for 4 weeks while a composition without the aluminum salt compound lost 75% of its dynamic range under similar exposure conditions. In one embodiment, 2-10 weight % of a thio-butylacrylate dissolved in a two-component urethane matrix containing 0.002 to 1 weight % of the aluminum salt compound showed a dynamic range of greater than 5 for a 200 microns thick sample and retained more than 80% of the dynamic range after 4 weeks exposure at 60.degree. C.
A novel liquid photoreactive asymmetric acrylate compound containing sulfur, aromatic moieties, and optionally bromine, and having high dynamic range sensitivity is disclosed. The acrylate compound is a monomer for a photoimageable system. In one embodiment, when about 2 8% by weight of the acrylate compound is dissolved in a two-component urethane matrix system and incorporated in an optical article formed by reacting the two-component urethane matrix system, the optical article shows a sensitivity of about 4 or more and a shrinkage during the formation of the optical article of about 0.05% versus a sensitivity of 2.26 and a shrinkage of 0.13% when tribromophenyl acrylate, a commercial monomer, was used.
Describes a multifocal optical article, e.g., an ophthalmic article such as a lens, in which the article includes (1) a rigid optical substrate, e.g., a transparent polymeric substrate, such as a thermoset or thermoplastic substrate, adapted to possess at least one light influencing property on at least a portion of at least one surface of the substrate, e.g., a photochromic and/or polarizing layer, and (2) a multifocal layer of an optical quality material on said substrate having the light influencing property. Describes also the aforedescribed optical article having an abrasion-resistant coating on the multifocal layer, e.g., an abrasion-resistant coating comprising an organo silane. A method for preparing the multifocal optical article comprising curing optical quality material between a multifocal mold and a preform comprising an optical substrate possessing the light influencing property is also described.
