Recent years have brought remarkable developments in white light emitting devices (WLEDs) and white organic light-emitting devices (WOLEDs). However, their efficiency, CIE values, CRI and lifetime are still not ideal. This review covers detailed discussion about syntheses of organometallic complexes, inorganic phosphors and quantum dots used in WLEDs, WOLEDs and their electroluminescent properties until December 2007.

Development of white light emitting materials has been an interesting area for scientists and scientists have developed many organic, polymer and inorganic materials for white electroluminescent devices. Among them, single component small molecules gave best results in terms of efficiency, simplicity of device fabrication, and CIE values. Therefore, this review covers detailed discussion about syntheses of small compounds used in white organic light emitting devices until 2007.