A blue light emitting material, 9,10-bis[3',5'di-(4'-metoxyphenyl)-phenyl]-anthracene (BDMA) was synthesized by a Suzuki coupling reaction and characterized by various spectroscopic methods. The anthracene derivative has a high fluorescence yield, good thermal stability with a high glass transition temperature (Tg) at 206 degrees C. A non-doped light emitting device using BDMA shows a maximum current efficiency of 2.2 cd/A, with a turn-on voltage of 4.4 V. The device emits blue light stably even at high voltages (5-18 V), with Commission Internafionale de l'Eclairage color coordinates of (0. 16, 0.12). (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.