Five novel fluorescent Schiff base tin(IV) complexes of the type [SnCl3(L)] were synthesized and their properties were investigated: the emission wavelengths range from bluish green to orange (lambda(max): 492-545 nm). DFT calculation shows that the order of the magnitudes of HOMO-LUMO gaps is consonant with that of the emission wavelengths (lambda(max)) of the complexes, and good correlation was observed between reduction potentials in DMSO and the energies of LUMO.