Magnesium(II) ions were complexed with 5-chloro-8-hydroxyquinoline (L) to give an MgL2 chelate that emitted green fluorescent light in tetrahydrofuran (THF) solvent as well as in solid state when excited by UV light. The complex was found to produce electroluminescent (EL) and thus OLEDs were fabricated and characterized based on this green light emitting material. In these devices the hole transport layer was obtained using a thin film of N,N'-diphenyl-N,N'-bis(3-methylphenyl)-1,1'-biphenyl-4,4'-diamine (TPD), LiF as hole blocking layer and tri(8-hydroxyquinoline aluminum)(Alq(3)) as the electron transporting layer. The EL peak was at 539 nm with 19 nm red shift from PL peak. The EL devices fabricated had a maximum brightness of 425 cd m(-2). (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.