A new cyclometalated rhenium(I)image complex

Reaction of Re(CO)5Cl with 2-phenylbenzothiazole (HΦBT) afforded the cyclometalated Re(CO)4(ΦBT) complex with the molecular structure of the obtained product confirmed by X-ray investigations. Re(CO)4(ΦBT) shows intense, hardly dependent on environment, luminescence originating from the π–π* ΦBT intraligand electronic transition. The investigated Re(CO)4(ΦBT) complex can be considered as a potentially applicable “triplet emitter” for OLED devices.