Patent ID: 7790888

Claim:
A process for preparing a compound of the formula (I) wherein X is —CR 7 ═CR 8 —, —S—, —NR 9 —, —O—, —Se—, R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 , R 7 and R 8 are independently H, straight chain or branched C 1-20 -alkyl, cyclic C 3-20 -alkyl, wherein one or more adjacent CH 2 -groups of the alkyl groups may be replaced by —O—, —S—, —NR 10 —, or —CONR 11 —, and one or more H-atoms of the alkyl groups may be replaced by F, Cl, Br or CN; aryl or heteroaryl with a skeletal structure having 4 to 14 C-atoms, wherein one or more C-atoms may be replaced by heteroatoms selected from —O—, —S—, —N—and —P—, and the C-atoms and optionally the heteroatoms may be substituted with non aromatic substituents, as defined for R 1 to R 8 ; F, Cl, Br or CN; or two adjacent groups R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 , R 7 and R 8 together form a cyclic group, which may be again substituted with the groups mentioned concerning R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 , R 7 and R 8 , wherein two adjacent substituents of the cyclic group may form again a cyclic group; R 9 , R 10 , R 11 are independently H, straight chain or branched C 1-20 -alkyl, cyclic C 3-20 -alkyl, which may be substituted as defined concerning the groups R 1 to R 8 or aryl or heteroaryl as defined concerning R 1 to R 8 ; by reacting a ligand of formula (II) wherein the symbols R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 and X having the meaning mentioned above, with an iridium halide or pseudohalide of the formula IrZ 3 or IrZ 3 •L x , where Z is a halide or pseudohalide and L is an organic or inorganic molecule, and x is the number of L and is 1 to 3; in the presence of a halide scavenger selected from the group consisting of Ag-, Hg-, Sb- and Al-salts, wherein the process is carried out in a solvent and the amount of solvent is chosen so that from 0.01 to 2.5 mmol of iridium halide or pseudohalide is present in 1 ml of solvent.