a thermally curable adhesive composition that includes a fluxing agent that also acts as an adhesive is provided . the composition includes : a fluxing agent represented by the formula rcooh , wherein r comprises a moiety having two or more carbon - carbon double bonds wherein in one embodiment , at least one is within an acrylate or methacrylate group , and which may further contain at least one aromatic moiety ; optionally , an effective amount of a crosslinkable diluent ; optionally , an effective amount of a source of free radical initiators ; and optionally , an effective amount of a resin to react with remnant carboxylic acid moieties . by employing an acrylate , methacrylate , or phenol in the structure of the adhesive flux , the cure temperature and moisture absorption characteristics can be significantly improved . the composition can be applied directly onto the surface of devices that are to be joined electrically and mechanically . these devices include , printed circuit substrates , connectors , components , cables , and other electrical devices having metallization patterns to be soldered together by means of a solder - bumped pattern on one or both surfaces . alternatively , a solder paste , comprising solder powder mixed with the fluxing agent of the present invention can be used . during the reflow step , the fluxing agent promotes wetting of the solder to the metallization patterns and , simultaneously , the fluxing agent itself crosslinks to mechanically bond and encapsulate the surfaces and their metallizations . the compositions can also be used to formulate sinterable conductive inks .