A metal complex compound having a metal-carbene bond which has a specific structure having a metal atom such as iridium atom, and an organic electroluminescence device which has an organic thin film layer having one or more layers including at least a light emitting layer and sandwiched between a pair of electrodes and contains the metal complex compound in at least one layer in the organic thin film layers. The organic electroluminescence device exhibits a great efficiency of light emission and has a long lifetime. The device can be obtained by the use of the novel metal complex compound.