New synthetic pathways to the preparation of near-blue emitting heteroleptic Ir(iii)N6 coordinated compounds with microsecond lifetimesElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Synthetic procedures, 1H NMR, absorption, emission and electrochemical data. X-ray experimental procedures and crystallographic data. CCDC 993309. For ESI and crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic format see DOI: 10.1039/c4cc02249a

A high yield synthetic route for the preparation of N 6 coordinated heteroleptic Ir( iii ) complexes using bidentate polypyridyl type ligands is described. The complexes are near-blue emitters and show microsecond emission lifetimes, high emission quantum yields and have two quasi-reversible reduction processes between −1.0 and −1.3 V vs. Ag/AgCl. A high yield synthetic route for the preparation of N 6 coordinated heteroleptic Ir( iii ) complexes using bidentate polypyridyl type ligands is described.