New 8-quinolinolate (Q) complexes of yttrium (1) and ytterbium (2) were synthesized by the reactions of Cp3Y and Yb[N(SiMe3)2]3 with 3 equiv. of 8-hydroxyquinoline in a DME solution. Single crystal X-ray analysis revealed the trinuclear molecular structure of the compounds Ln3Q9. The LDI-TOFMS investigation displayed that under the laser impact the compounds split off Q(-) anions to give Ln3Q8(+), Ln2Q5(+) and LnQ3(+) moieties. In the negative mode spectra the anions Q(-) and LnQ4(-) were observed. The DFT calculations showed the decreased stability of cationic Ln-quinolinolate as compared with their anionic counterparts. Complex 2 which is used as an emitter in a three-layer OLED displayed a metal-centered emission at 979 nm and an intensity of 50 μW cm(-2) at 15.5 V.