A new water-soluble iridium(III) diimine complex with appended sugar was synthesized and characterized. The electrochemiluminescent behavior of the new complex in aqueous buffer was first studied and the ECL signal was found to be much higher than that of [Ru(bpy)(3)](2+) at a Pt working electrode. Tri-n-propylamine (TPA) and antibiotics were determined by the ECL of the iridium(III) complex in aqueous buffer at the Pt electrode and the method was found to show good sensitivity and reproducibility. The new iridium(III) complex was found to display good solubility in aqueous solution and a strong ECL signal at the Pt electrode, which might open up the possibility of its application in analysis.

The cover picture shows the structures of two novel water‐soluble cyclometalated iridium(III) complexes with good water solubility, high quantum efficiency and biocompatibility. Preliminary experiments of cell viability and sensing of lectin show that iridium(III) complexes with appended sugar groups provide advantages of reducing the toxicity and of improving the solubility in water, and open up the possibility of molecular targeting of carbohydrate‐binding domains in cells and tissues. Details are discussed in the Short Communication by M.‐J. Li, G.‐N. Chen et al. on p. 197.

Two new iridium(III) complexes with good water-solubility and biocompatibility have been synthesized and characterized. These two iridium(III) complexes showed strong luminescence with high quantum efficiency. Preliminary ex-