Synthesis of light-emmting materials bis-[2′-2″-(9H-fluoren-2-yl)-vinyl-8-hydroxyquinoline] zinc(II) and bis-[2′-4″-(4,5-diphenyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)styryl-8-hydroxyquinoline] zinc(II)

Two novel light-emitting materials bis-[2′-2″-(9H-fluoren-2-yl)-vinyl-8-hydroxyquinoline] zinc(II) (3) and bis-[2′-4″-(4,5-diphenyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)styryl-8-hydroxyquinoline] zinc(II) (4) containting 8-hydroxyquinoline and fluorene or imidazole moieties have been synthesized. The optical properties of these complexes were influenced by the styryl substituents, and exhibited orange-emission. They have higher fluorescence quantum yields than Alq3, and good stabilities with thermal decomposition temperatures 395 °C and 435 °C. The single-layer OLED fabricated by 3 emitted lemon-yellow, and exhibited good device performance with a maximum luminance of 489 cd m−2, and luminance efficiency of up to 0.41 cd A−1. The single-layer OLED fabricated by 4 emitted yellow-green, and exhibited good device performance with a maximum luminance of 323 cd m−2, and luminance efficiency of up to 0.54 cd A−1.