In this article, the molecular structure, photoluminescent and electroluminescent properties of bis(2-(4-methyl-2-hydroxyphenyl) benzothiazolate) zinc (Zn(4-MeBTZ)(2)) with good electron-transport characteristics were reported. This complex was identified as triclinic structure with the strong intermolecular pi-pi stacking interactions between the benzothiazolate/phenoxido rings and weak intramolecular hydrogen bonds by X-ray single-crystal diffraction. Quantum chemical method has been employed to investigate electron structure and charge transport property. The blue-green light emission was observed by fabricating double-layer devices using Zn(4-MeBTZ)(2) as electron-transport and NPB as hole-transport material. The performance of organic light-emitting devices based on Zn(4-MeBTZ)2 is much better than that of the devices based on [Zn(BTZ)(2)](2). Crown Copyright (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.