Synthesis of new dipyridylphenylaminosiloles for highly emissive organic electroluminescent devicesDedicated to Professor Robert Corriu on the occasion of his 70th anniversary.

High-performance organic electroluminescent devices based on two new siloles, 1,1-dimethyl-2,5-bis(p-2,2′-dipyridylaminophenyl)silole (5) and 1,1-dimethyl-2,5-bis(p-2,2′-dipyridylaminophenyl)-3,4-diphenylsilole (8), acting as both electron- and hole-transporting material, are described. The best performance is attained with silole 8, which displays a luminescence of 104 Cd m−2 at 10 V for a current density of less than 0.2 A cm−2, which is as efficient as tris(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminium (Alq3), one of the best candidates for electroluminescent materials under the same conditions.