Small organic molecules with incorporated 4H-pyran-4-ylidene (pyranylidene) fragment as the p-conjugation system which bonds the electron acceptor fragment (A) with electron donor part (D) in the molecule – also well known as derivatives of 4-(dicyano-methylene)-2-methyl-6-[p-(dimethylamino) styryl]-4H-pyran (DCM) laser dye-have attracted considerable attention of scientists as potential new generation materials for organic photonics and molecular electronics due to their low-cost fabrication possibility, flexibility and low-weight. Six glassy derivatives of 4H-pyran-4-ylidene (pyranylidene) with attached bulky 2-(trityloxy)ethyl and tert-butyl groups are described in this report. Almost all of the synthesized compounds form good optical quality transparent amorphous films from volatile organic solvents and could be obtained in good yields up to 75%. Their light emission in solution and thin solid films is in the range of 600–700 nm, they are thermally stable and show glass transition in the range of 108–158 C. The amplified spontaneous emission threshold values of the neat films of the glassy pyranylidene derivatives vary from 155 to 450 lJ/cm2 and their HOMO and LUMO energy levels are between of those of tris(8-hydroxy quinolinato) aluminum (Alq3). The photoluminescence quantum yields of the glassy compounds are in the range from 1% to about 7.7% and their electroluminescence properties have been investigated. Therefore, glassy pyranylidene derivatives could be a very potential low-cost solution processable materials for Alq3 hosted light amplification and light-emitting application studies.