Disclosed is a mixture containing polymerizable compounds having Formulas (III) and (IV) wherein Ar.sup.1 and Ar.sup.2 are divalent aromatic hydrocarbon or heteroaromatic ring group having D1 or D2 as a substituent; D.sup.1 and D.sup.2 are C1-C20 organic group having at least one aromatic ring selected from the group consisting of aromatic hydrocarbon ring and heteroaromatic ring; A.sup.11-A.sup.22 and B.sup.11-B.sup.22 are alicyclic or aromatic group which may have a substituent, Y.sup.11-Y.sup.22 and L.sup.11-L.sup.22 are single bond, —O—, —CO—, —C0—O—, —O—CO—, —NR.sup.21—CO—, —CO—NR.sup.22—, —O—CO—O—, —NR.sup.23—CO—O—, —O—CO—NR.sup.24— or —NR.sup.25—CO—NR.sup.26— where R.sup.21-R.sup.26 are hydrogen or C1-C6 alkyl group; R.sup.4-R.sup.9 are hydrogen, methyl group or chlorine; one of f and k is integer of 1 to 3 with the other being integer of 0 to 3; g, j, m and q are integer of 1 to 20; and h, i, n and p are 0 or 1.

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This disclosure relates to a hard coating composition, which includes a silazane compound, a thiol-based compound, a polyfunctional urethane (meth)acrylate having a cyclohexyl group, a photoinitiator, inorganic nanoparticles, and a solvent, and which can also exhibit superior scratch resistance, hardness and flexibility.

This disclosure relates to a hard coating composition, which includes a silazane compound, a thiol-based compound, a polyfunctional urethane (meth)acrylate having a cyclohexyl group, a photoinitiator, inorganic nanoparticles, and a solvent, and which can also exhibit superior scratch resistance, hardness and flexibility.

A liquid crystal composition is provided containing a polymerizable liquid crystal compound, the composition having high preservation stability when dissolved in a solvent and also having the ability to restrain the development of orientation defects of the liquid crystal compound. A method of producing such a liquid crystal composition is also provided with ease. The liquid crystal composition includes a first polymerizable liquid crystal compound having five or more ring structures on its principal chain and represented by the following formula (A) and a second polymerizable liquid crystal compound having five or more ring structures and represented by the following formula (B).

##STR00001##

A liquid crystal composition is provided containing a polymerizable liquid crystal compound, the composition having high preservation stability when dissolved in a solvent and also having the ability to restrain the development of orientation defects of the liquid crystal compound. A method of producing such a liquid crystal composition is also provided with ease. The liquid crystal composition includes a first polymerizable liquid crystal compound having five or more ring structures on its principal chain and represented by the following formula (A) and a second polymerizable liquid crystal compound having five or more ring structures and represented by the following formula (B).

##STR00001##

The present invention pertains to: a polymerizable compound represented by a formula (I); a polymerizable composition comprising the polymerizable compound and an initiator; a polymer obtained by polymerizing the polymerizable compound or the polymerizable composition; and an optically anisotropic article comprising the polymer. The present invention provides a polymerizable compound, a polymerizable composition, and a polymer that have a practical low melting point, exhibit excellent solubility in a general-purpose solvent, can be produced at low cost, and can produce an optical film that achieves uniform conversion of polarized light over a wide wavelength band, and also provide an optically anisotropic article.

Provided is a cured product having the following characteristics: the dispersion characteristic and secondary dispersion characteristic of refractive indices are high, the cured product hardy crystallizes, and a chromatic aberration-correcting function is high. The cured product contains at least a structure represented by the general formula (4) and a structure represented by the general formula (5), in which a content of the structure represented by the general formula (5) in the cured product is 0.01 or more and 0.10 or less in terms of a substance amount ratio with respect to the structure represented by the general formula (4).

##STR00001##

Compositions including a combination of (meth)acryloyl-terminated monomers and oligomers prepared by co-reacting reactants having active hydrogen groups with an acrylating agent are disclosed. Polymerizates formed using the combinations of (meth)acryloyl-terminated monomers and oligomers exhibit a high hardness, excellent thermomechanical properties, and a high refractive index. The compositions can be used to fabricate optical components.

The present invention provides a resin composition suitable for producing a diffractive optical element, the resin composition including an indium tin oxide particle and a near-ultraviolet light-absorbing organic compound having a maximum value of an absorbance at 340 nm to 400 nm in an absorption spectrum in a wavelength region of 300 nm to 780 nm and exhibiting substantially no light absorption at a wavelength of 410 to 800 nm.

The present invention provides a resin composition suitable for producing a diffractive optical element, the resin composition including an indium tin oxide particle and a near-ultraviolet light-absorbing organic compound having a maximum value of an absorbance at 340 nm to 400 nm in an absorption spectrum in a wavelength region of 300 nm to 780 nm and exhibiting substantially no light absorption at a wavelength of 410 to 800 nm.