JPH04110193A - Method for forming image using thermal transfer material - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form an image generating no blurr or retransfer and excellent in fixing properties by enhancing the reactivity with the heat-diffusible dye in the ink layer of a thermal transfer material by selecting a specific compound or a polymer or copolymer thereof as the image receiving substance contained in an image receiving layer. CONSTITUTION:As the substance contained in the image receiving layer of an image receiving material, a compound represented by formula 1 having the high reactivity with the heat-diffusible dye in the ink layer of a thermal transfer material or a polymer or copolymer thereof is selected. In the formula 1, X being a dissociation group is a halogen atom such as a fluorine atom, a chlorine atom or a bromine atom or an X'-R group wherein X' is a sulfur atom, a sulfonyl group, an oxygen atom or a quaternary nitrogen atom and R is a hydrogen atom or a substituent and R may be an atom group forming a ring along with X' when X' is a quaternary nitrogen atom).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image forming method using a heat-sensitive transfer material, and more particularly, to a method for forming an image using a heat-sensitive transfer material characterized in that a specific compound is used as an image-receiving substance. Regarding the method.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, color recording techniques such as an inkjet method, an electrophotographic method, and a thermal transfer method are known as methods for forming color hard copies.

In particular, the thermal transfer method has advantages such as easy operation and maintenance, miniaturization and cost reduction of the apparatus, and low running costs.

However, in the thermal transfer method, (1) a sheet-shaped thermal transfer material, that is, a transfer sheet, which is formed by providing a meltable ink layer on a support, is heated by a thermal head, and this ink is transferred to a sheet-shaped image-receiving material, that is, the transfer target; (1) A method of melt-transferring onto a sheet; (1) heating a sheet-shaped heat-sensitive transfer material, that is, a transfer sheet, which is formed by providing an ink layer containing a heat-diffusible dye (sublimable dye) on a support with a heat-sensitive head; There is also a thermal diffusion transfer method (sublimation transfer method) in which this heat diffusible dye is transferred onto a notebook-shaped image receiving material, that is, a sort to be transferred.

However, the thermal diffusion transfer method described in (2) above is preferable for forming full-color images because it can control the gradation of the image by changing the amount of dye transferred in accordance with changes in the thermal energy of the thermal head. can be applied.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the thermal diffusion transfer method, since the dye used in the thermal transfer material is thermally diffusible, there is a problem in that the image is easily retransferred from the transfer sheet.

In order to prevent the image from being retransferred, a technique has been proposed in which the image on the transfer sheet is laminated, but laminating means requires post-processing called lamination, which makes the process complicated.

In addition, a technique has been proposed in which a dye image is fixed by adding a compound to the image-receiving layer of the transfer sort and causing this compound to react with the dye on the transfer sort (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-59495, No. 59-64393, No. 60-
260391 and 60-110494).

According to these techniques, there is no need for post-processing to laminate the image on the transfer sheet, or the reactivity between the compound added to the image-receiving layer and the dye on the transfer sheet is low, and as a result, Images tend to smudge, and there are problems with sufficient fixation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming method using a heat-sensitive transfer material that can form an image with excellent fixability by incorporating an image-receiving substance highly reactive with heat-diffusible dyes into an image-receiving layer. It's about doing.

[Failure to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, as a result of extensive research by the present inventors, it has been found that a compound represented by the general formula (1) below or a polymer or copolymer of the compound is used as an image-receiving substance to be contained in the image-receiving layer. By selecting a polymer, we can increase the reactivity with the heat-diffusible dye in the ink layer of the thermal transfer material.
The present invention was completed based on the discovery that it is possible to form images with excellent fixing properties that do not cause bleeding or retransfer.

Therefore, the image forming method using the heat-sensitive transfer material of the present invention is as follows:
A heat-sensitive transfer material having an ink layer containing a heat-diffusible dye provided on a support is heated according to image information, and the heat-diffusible dye is mixed with a compound represented by the following general formula (1) or the compound concerned. All or part of this heat-diffusible dye and a compound represented by the following general formula (1) or a polymer of the compound are transferred to an image-receiving material provided with an image-receiving layer containing a polymer or copolymer of Alternatively, it is characterized in that an image is formed by a reaction product with a copolymer.

General formula (1) ] That is, in the present invention, as a substance to be contained in the image receiving layer of the image receiving material, a compound represented by the above general formula (1) or a compound represented by the above general formula (1) that has high reactivity with the heat diffusible dye of the ink layer of the thermal transfer material is used. By selecting a polymer or copolymer, image blurring and retransfer can be effectively prevented and image fixing properties can be significantly improved.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the present invention will be specifically explained.

In the compound represented by the general formula (1), the leaving group X is preferably a halogen atom such as a fluorine atom, a chlorine atom, a bromine atom, or the X'-R group described in detail below.

In the above X'-R group, X' represents a sulfur atom, a sulfonyl group, an oxygen atom, or a quaternary nitrogen atom, and R represents a hydrogen atom or a substituent. In addition, when X is a quaternary nitrogen atom, R may be an atomic group forming a ring together with X'.

Examples of the X~R groups include those represented by the following general formulas (1) to (2).

General formula ■ -3o2R,.

R10 represents an OH group, an alkyl group, or an aryl group. This alkyl group and aryl group may be further substituted with an OH group, carboxyl group, alkyl group, sulfonyl group, etc.

General formula ■ -3-C=N-R.

I2 R, , R, and □ each represent a hydrogen atom, an optionally substituted alkyl group, an arylamino group, or an amine group, and may jointly form a ring.

General formula (1) R12 / 5-C-N\S R+ 4 R121R14 each represents an optionally substituted alkyl group or aryl group.

General formula ■ -3-R,5 Rlg is an alkyl group optionally substituted with a hydrogen atom, a sulfoxyl group, or a halogen atom; an aryl group optionally substituted with a nitro group, a sulfoxyl group, or a cyano group;
Represents a heterocycle such as benzthiazole, benzoxazole, benzimidazole, imidazole, triazole, phenyltetraboule, etc., which may be substituted with an alkyl group, acylamino group, hydroxyl group, carboxyl group, sulfoxyl group, etc.

General formula (1) -〇-R18 R16 represents an aryl group which may be substituted with a halogenated alkyl group, a nitro group, a sulfoxyl group, a cyano group, an alkyl group, etc.

General formula ■ R17 -N" -R,.

R3゜R1□l RIB, R+s each represents an optionally substituted alkyl group, an alkyl group, or an amino group, and may jointly form a ring.

Specific examples of the above X'-R group include those listed below.

-N' (cHt)s NOl 0sH NOl So, H -O-C1-12-CA OOH 5CN S CN (CtHi)t (9-3-5O,H (10) -S H CiH++ (t) The above general In the compound represented by formula (1), the nitrogen-containing heterocycle is preferably a 5- to 6-membered heterocycle, and the number of nitrogen atoms on the heterocycle is preferably 1 to 3, particularly preferably 2 or 3. .It may also contain a sulfur atom.

In addition, in the general formula (1), the heterocycle formed by Y includes those that are condensed with other rings such as a benzene ring to form a condensed ring. Furthermore, these heterocycles include those having substituents on the ring, such as halogen atoms such as chlorine atoms and fluorine atoms, alkyl groups, amine groups, hydroxy groups, alkoxy groups, and aryloxy groups. , an alkylamino group, an arylamino group, an acylamino group, a sulfonyl group, a carbamoyl group, a sulfamoyl group, a heterocyclic group, and further includes those having substituents.

These substituents include groups that can improve the affinity for the image-receiving layer, improve the immobility of the heat-diffusible dye during and/or after image formation, and even prevent precipitation. A group substituted with a group is preferable.

Such groups are usually used in compounds (e.g. couplers) used in conventional photographic materials, such as
Mention may be made of groups known as ballast groups. The ballast group is preferably a group having 6 to 30 carbon atoms.

Furthermore, the above-mentioned groups may include polymer residues. When having a polymer residue as one of the substituents, the polymer or copolymer of the compound represented by the general formula (1) may be a monomer represented by the following general formula (2). A polymer or copolymer having repeating units derived from the polymer is preferred.

General Formula (2) In this General Formula (2), X and Y are the same as X and Y in the General Formula (1), respectively. Also, R
,,R2 each represent a divalent hydrocarbon group, J,,J
2 each represents a divalent bonding group, R3 represents an alkyl group or a hydrogen atom, n 1+ 121m + +
m 2 represents 0 or 1, respectively.

The divalent hydrocarbon groups represented by R, R2 include alkylene groups such as methylene group, ethylene group, and propylene group;
Examples include arylene groups such as phenylene groups, groups combining the above groups such as methylene phenylene groups, and the like.

The divalent bonding group represented by Jl and J2 is NHCO
---CONH--COO--0co--5co--c
os--o--5-3O--3o, --NH--CO
- and so on.

Furthermore, the polymer or copolymer of the compound represented by the general formula (1) may be a homopolymer derived only from the monomer represented by the general formula (2), It may also be a copolymer with one or more other monomers. Monomers for forming such a copolymer include ethyl acrylate,
Acrylic esters such as butyl acrylate and ethylhexyl acrylate, methacrylic esters such as methyl methacrylate, propyl methacrylate, and amyl methacrylate, styrenes such as styrene, methylstyrene, and p-sulfostyrene, acrylamide, methyl acrylamide, butylacrylamide Acrylamides such as methacrylamide, methylmethacrylamide, ethylmethacrylamide; etc. can be mentioned.

As the compound represented by the general formula (1), specifically, compounds represented by the following general formulas (A) to (G) can be mentioned.

General formula (A) General formula (C) General formula (E) General formula (G) In the above general formulas (A) to (G), X, , X2X3 are each the same as X in the above general formula (1). There is, R4,
R, each represents a -valent organic group. Examples of this -valent organic group include the groups explained as substituents that may be included in the nitrogen-containing heterocycle in the compound represented by general formula (1) above, ballast groups, polymer residues, etc. can.

- Typical specific examples of the compound represented by the general formula (11) include those listed in Table 1 below, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

General formula (B) General formula (D) General formula (F) Furthermore, as a polymer or copolymer of the compound represented by the above general formula (1), monomers represented by the above general formula (2) may be used. Polymers or copolymers having repeating units derived from the general formula (
As the monomer represented by 2), those listed in Table 2 below can be cited as typical examples.

As the copolymer of the compound represented by the general formula (1), those listed in Table 3 below can be cited as typical examples.

Table 3 (Part 1) Table 3 (Part 2) Composition ratio (weight ratio), monomer/copolymer monomer composition ratio (
(weight ratio), monomer/copolymer monomer The method for synthesizing the copolymers listed in Table 3 above is described in JP-A-63-1443.
50 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-864 may be employed.

The compound represented by the general formula (1) is contained in the image-receiving layer of the image-receiving material, and its content is preferably from 0.1 to 20 g, particularly from 0.3 to 20 g per m2 of support in the image-receiving material.
lOg is preferred.

The compound represented by the general formula (1) may be added by dissolving or dispersing the compound together with the resin constituting the image-receiving layer in a solvent such as ethanol, methanol, methyl ethyl ketone, toluene, methylene chloride, tetrahydrofuran, or water. After that, it is generally added into the image-receiving layer by coating it on the support of the image-receiving material.

Supports for image-receiving materials include paper, coated paper, synthetic paper, white polyethylene terephthalate base film, transparent polyethylene terephthalate base film, and RC paper.
Examples include bars, etc.

Examples of the binder for the image-receiving layer include polyester resins, polyvinyl chloride resins, copolymer resins of vinyl chloride and other monomers such as vinyl acetate, acrylic esters, polyhinylpyrrolitone, and polycarbonate resins. .

If necessary, a release agent such as silicone oil, an antioxidant, and an image stabilizer such as a UV absorber may be added to the surface of the image-receiving layer.

In the present invention, when forming a monochrome image, the heat-diffusible dye to be contained in the ink layer of the heat-sensitive transfer material includes:
Any of yellow dye, macenta dye, and cyan dye may be used. Furthermore, depending on the tone of the image, any two or three of the above three types of dyes may be used in combination.

In addition, this ink layer includes a yellow ink layer containing a binder and a yellow dye, a macenta ink layer containing a binder and a macenta dye, and a cyan ink layer containing a binder and a cyan dye, which are constant along the surface direction. It is preferable that the film be formed on a support by repeating the above steps.

In addition to the three ink layers arranged along the surface direction, a black ink layer containing a black image forming substance may be interposed between any two horizontally adjacent layers.

As the cyan dye, JP-A-59-78896;
No. 59-227948, No. 60-24996, No. 6
No. 0-53563, No. 60-130735, No. 60-
No. 131292, No. 60-239289, No. 61-1
No. 9396, No. 61-22993, No. 6131292
No. 61-31467, No. 61-35994, No. 61-49893, No. 6]-148269, No. 62
-191191, 63-91288, 63-9
Examples include naphthoquinone dyes, anthraquinone dyes, and azomethine dyes described in publications such as No. 1287 and No. 63-290793.

Examples of the magenta dye include JP-A Nos. 59-78896, 60-'30392, 60-30394,
No. 60-253595, No. 61-262190, No. 63-5992, No. 63205288, No. 64-1
Examples include anthraquinone dyes, azo dyes, and azomethine dyes described in publications such as No. 59 and No. 64-63194.

Examples of the yellow dye include JP-A No. 5L-78896, JP-A No. 6 (1-27594, JP-A No. 60-31560, JP-A No. 6o-53565, JP-A No. 6]-12394, JP-A-Sho 63-
Examples include methine dyes, azo dyes, quinophthalone dyes, and anthrisothiazole dyes described in publications such as No. 122594.

Particularly preferred as the thermodiffusible dye is azomethine obtained by a coupling reaction between a compound having a closed or closed active methylene group and an oxidized product of a p-phenylenediamine derivative or an oxidized product of a p-aminophenol derivative. It is an indoaniline dye obtained by a coupling reaction between a dye, a phenol or naphthol derivative, and an oxidized product of a p-phenylenediamine derivative or an oxidized product of a p-aminophenol derivative.

In addition, it is preferable that these heat-diffusible dyes have an amino group or a hydroxyl group as a substituent in a portion other than the auxochrome.

The amount of heat-diffusible dye used is 1 m2 of support of heat-sensitive transfer material.
The amount is preferably 0.1 to 20 g, particularly preferably 0.2 to 5 g.

As the binder for the ink layer, water-soluble polymers such as cellulose, polyacrylic acid, polyvinyl alcohol, and polyhinylpyrrolidone, acrylic resin, methacrylic resin, polystyrene, polycarbonate, polyether sulfone, ethyl cellulose, and nitrocellulose are used. Mention may be made of polymers soluble in organic solvents.

When a polymer soluble in an organic solvent is used as a binder, the polymer may be dissolved in the organic solvent or may be used in the form of a latex dispersion in the organic solvent.

The amount of this binder used is 1 m of support of thermal transfer material.
0.1 to 50 g is preferable, especially 0.5 to 10 g per 2
g is preferred.

The ink layer can be formed as follows. First, the constituent materials of the ink layer are dissolved in a solvent or dispersed in the form of fine particles to prepare an ink, and this ink is applied onto a support, or printed on the support using a gravure printing method or the like. to form an ink layer.

The thickness of the ink layer, that is, the heat-sensitive layer, is 0.1 to 0.1 in terms of dry film thickness.
A range of 5 μm is preferable.

The support for thermal transfer materials or image-receiving materials must have good dimensional stability and be able to withstand the heat during recording with a thermal head. Specifically, condenser paper, glassine paper, etc. Tissue paper, heat-resistant plastic films such as polyethylene terephthalate, polyamide, and polycarbonate can be used.

The thickness of the support is preferably 2 to 10 μm. Further, a subbing layer may be provided on the support for the purpose of improving adhesion with the binder and preventing transfer and dyeing of the heat-diffusible dye to the support.

Further, a slipping layer may be provided on the back surface of the support opposite to the ink layer for the purpose of preventing the head from adhering to the support.

As a solvent for adjusting the ink of the ink layer, water;
Alcohols such as ethanol and propatool; Esters such as ethyl acetate; Aromatics such as toluene, xylene, and chlorobenzene; Ketones such as acetone and methyl ethyl ketone; Ethers such as tetrahydrofuran and dioxane; Ethers such as chloroform and trichloroethylene Chlorinated solvents: etc. can be mentioned.

Thermal transfer materials are basically constructed by providing an ink layer consisting of a heat-diffusible dye and a binder on a support, or by placing an ink layer on this ink layer as described in JP-A-59-106997. A thermofusible layer containing a thermofusible compound such as a thermofusible compound may be provided.

In the image forming method using the heat-sensitive transfer material of the present invention,
A heat-sensitive transfer material comprising an ink layer containing a heat-diffusible dye on a support is heated in accordance with image information, and the heat-diffusible dye is mixed with a compound represented by the general formula (1) or the like. The image-receiving material is transferred to an image-receiving material provided with an image-receiving layer containing a polymer or copolymer of the compound, and all or part of the heat-diffusible dye is combined with the compound represented by the general formula (1) or the polymer of the compound. An image is formed by combining or reacting with a copolymer.

Specifically, the ink layer surface of the heat-sensitive transfer material and the image-receiving layer surface of the image-receiving material are overlapped, and in this state, from the surface of either the heat-sensitive transfer material or the image-receiving material, preferably from the surface of the heat-sensitive transfer material, e.g. Heating is performed using a heating means such as a thermal head according to the image information. By this heating, the ink in the ink layer of the heat-sensitive transfer material is easily transferred and transferred to the image-receiving layer of the image-receiving material with relatively low energy depending on the magnitude of the heating energy.

When the ink in the ink layer is transferred to the image receiving layer in this way,
The transferred ink reacts with the image-receiving substance in the image-receiving layer, that is, the compound represented by the general formula (1) or the polymer or copolymer of the compound, and an image is formed by this reaction product.

〔Example〕

Examples of the present invention will be described below along with comparative examples, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

[Example 1] (Preparation of ink layer) CHI 10 g of the yellow dye represented by the above structural formula and 24 g of polyvinyl butyral resin (binder) were dissolved in 400 ml of methyl ethyl ketone to prepare yellow ink 1.

Using this ink 1, it was applied onto a polyethylene terephthalate film (support) having a thickness of 4.5 μm so that the amount of yellow dye adhered was 1.0 g/m 2 to prepare a thermal transfer material 1.

The back side of the polyethylene terephthalate film is coated with polyvinyl butyral (containing polyvinyl stearate (0.25 g/m)) as a staking prevention layer.
A layer of 0.4 g/m is provided.

(Preparation of image-receiving material) A compound represented by the general formula (1) (exemplary compound T
Image receiving material 1 was prepared by coating polyvinyl chloride containing -1).

Note that one side of the laminated paper, that is, the side to which polyvinyl chloride was coated, contained a white pigment (titanium dioxide) and a blue tint.

The coating amount of Exemplified Compound T-1 was 5 g/m2, and the coating amount of polyvinyl chloride was 10 g/m2.

Furthermore, the image-receiving layer contained 0.15 g/m'' of silicone oil.

(Image forming method using thermal transfer material) The thermal transfer material 1 and image-receiving material 1 described above are stacked so that the ink layer surface of the thermal transfer material 1 and the image-receiving layer surface of the image-receiving material 1 face each other, and the thermal head is moved to the thermal transfer material 1. When a heat-sensitive transfer image was formed by applying it from the back side of the paper, a yellow heat-sensitive transfer image 1 with excellent gradation was obtained.

The maximum density (Dmax) of this thermal transfer image 1 was measured and found to be 1.88. In addition, Dmax is PDA
-65 (manufactured by Konica ■).

Note that the conditions for thermal transfer are as follows.

Linear density of main scanning and sub-scanning, 8 dots)/mm Recording power, 0
．． Heating time of 6W/dot thermal head: 20m5ec to 0.2m5
The heating time was adjusted stepwise between ec.

(Evaluation) (1) Sandwich the heat-sensitive transfer image l with blur or more between the laminating pouch films and transfer them to the laminator L A C1702”PR.
It was laminated using "O" (manufactured by Fujibura ■).

The laminated thermal transfer image 1 was left for 48 hours at a temperature of 77° C., and bleeding in the thermal transfer image 1 was visually evaluated.

The evaluation was ``○J1'' if no bridging was observed, and ``x'' if bridging was severe.

(2) Retransfer The separately formed thermal transfer image l is superimposed on the image receiving material lO shown in Table 4 below, and a load of 20 kg/m' is applied thereto, and the image is left at a temperature of 60°C for 48 hours. The degree of retransfer of the image from the thermally transferred image 1 to the image receiving material IO was visually evaluated.

The evaluation was ``○J1'' when retransfer was not observed and ``x'' when retransfer occurred.

The above results are shown in Table 4 below.

[Examples 2 to 14] In Example 1, the type and content of the compound represented by the general formula (1) or the polymer or copolymer of the compound, and the binder of the image-receiving layer are shown in Table 4 below. Image-receiving material 2 for use in the present invention was prepared in the same manner except for the following changes.
14 was produced.

Thermal transfer images 2 to 14 were formed in the same manner as in Example 1 using each of these image receiving materials 2 to 14 and the thermal transfer material 1 of Example 1.

The Dmax of these thermal transfer images 2 to 14 are as shown in Table 4.

Next, the thermal transfer images 2 to 14 were evaluated for bleeding and retransfer in the same manner as in Example 1. The results are shown in Table 4.

[Comparative Examples 1 to 2] Comparative examples were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the compound represented by the general formula (1) was not used at all, and the binder of the image-receiving layer was changed as shown in Table 4 below. Image receiving materials a and b were prepared.

Thermal transfer images a' and b' were formed in the same manner as in Example 1 using each of these image-receiving materials a and b and the thermal transfer material 1 of Example 1.

Dmax of these thermal transfer images a' and b' is the fourth
As shown in the table.

Next, the thermal transfer images a' and b' were evaluated for bleeding and retransfer in the same manner as in Example 1.

The results are shown in Table 4.

As shown in Table 4 above, according to Examples 1 to 14 of the present invention, thermal transfer images with high image density and excellent fixing properties were obtained.

On the other hand, in Comparative Examples] and 2, because comparative image receiving materials a and b containing no compound represented by the general formula (1) were used, the obtained thermal transfer images*
Samples a' and b' tend to cause bleeding and retransfer, and it is clear that the fixing properties are inferior to those of the examples of the present invention.

[Examples 15 to 16] In Example, the yellow dye of thermal transfer material 1 was
Thermal transfer material 2.3 was produced in the same manner except that the following magenta dye and Noan dye were used.

magenta pigment CH.

A thermal transfer image 15 was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 using each of the cyan dye thermal transfer materials 2 and 3 and the image receiving material 1 of Example 1.
．． 16 was formed.

The Dmax of these thermal transfer images 15, 16 were 2, 15, 2, and 08, respectively.

When these thermal transfer images 15 and 16 were evaluated for bleeding and retransfer in the same manner as in Example 1, both thermal transfer images 15 and 16 showed no bleeding, retransfer, or stopping, and the fixability was good. Something has been confirmed.

[Comparative Examples 3 and 4] Thermal transfer images C'', d' was formed.

The Dmax of these thermal transfer images c' and d' were 2.13 and 2.05, respectively.

When these thermal transfer images c' and d'' were evaluated for bleeding and retransfer in the same manner as in Example 1, it was found that both thermal transfer images c' and d' had bleeding and retransfer. It was confirmed that the fixing properties were inferior to Examples 15 and 16 of the present invention.

[Example 17] Using the inks used in Examples 1, 15, and 16, yellow, magenta, and cyan ink layers were repeatedly applied in sequence along the surface direction on the same support as in Example 1. A full-color thermal transfer material 4 was prepared.

A full-color thermal transfer image 17 was formed using the thermal transfer material 4 and the image-receiving material 2 using a video printer (V Y-100 manufactured by Hitachi).

When this thermal transfer image I7 was evaluated for bleeding and retransfer in the same manner as in Example 1, no bleeding or retransfer was observed, and the fixability was good.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained in detail above, according to the present invention, as an image receiving substance to be contained in the image receiving layer of the image receiving material, a specific substance having high reactivity with the heat diffusible dye of the ink layer of the thermal transfer material,
That is, since the compound represented by the general formula (1) or a polymer or copolymer of the compound is selected, it is possible to form a thermally transferred image with excellent fixability without causing bleeding or retransfer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A heat-sensitive transfer material having an ink layer containing a heat-diffusible dye provided on a support is heated according to image information, and the heat-diffusible dye is expressed by the following general formula (1). The compound represented by the following general formula (1) is transferred to an image receiving material provided with an image receiving layer containing a compound or a polymer or copolymer of the compound. Or an image forming method using a heat-sensitive transfer material, characterized in that an image is formed by a reaction product of the compound with a polymer or copolymer. General formula (1) ▲ Numerical formulas, chemical formulas, tables, etc. . ]