Over the last 10 years, several organic compounds have been used to realize efficient electroluminescent devices, organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), which have now become competitive with the well-known and older inorganic semiconductor diodes, LED. Among these new luminescent compounds, the metallorganic molecule Alq(3) has an efficient emission band in the green region of the electromagnetic spectrum, and is easily handled. However, OLEDs realized with Alq(3) and other organic compounds display a lifetime defined as the time required by the emission to reduce by half its initial value, equal to about 5000 h, which is considered to be too short for practical applications. Several studies have been performed on organic compounds to understand their degradation, which has been ascribed to both intrinsic and extrinsic effects; among the latter, exposition to atmospheric agents is considered to be very important. Simple experiments have been made to verify the oxidation processes and the possibility to halt or retard them by using appropriate chemical compounds. Butylated hydroxytoluene, a molecule belonging to the big family of phenols, proved to be effective in preserving the photoluminescence of Alq(3) films. Our results support the idea that phenols, which are known to be strong antioxidant products, can increase the lifetime of OLEDs realized with small organic molecules and polymers. (C) 2002 The Electrochemical Society.