New Trends in the Use of Transition Metal–Ligand Complexes for Applications in Electroluminescent Devices

Abstract The advantage of using phosphorescent transition metal–ligand complexes in optoelectronic applications such as organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) and light‐emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) are described and evaluated. Additionally, different device constructions utilizing phosphorescent transition‐metal complexes like iridium( III ) mixed‐ligand complexes and ruthenium( II ) systems are reviewed and specified. Diverse host materials in which the phosphorescent emitters can be placed are discussed, such as small organic molecules and a few polymeric systems, and alternative processing technologies are briefly compared. Recent developments in the synthesis of iridium( III ) triplet emitters are discussed. Different device architectures require different kinds of metal–ligand complexes. The different synthetic routes leading to charged and non‐charged complexes are briefly discussed.