Highly monodisperse nanocrystals (including CdSe, ZnSe, PbSe, Cu2-xSe, MnSe, Zn1-xCdxSe, CuInSe2, CuInSnSe2, CdTe, ZnTe, PbTe, etc) have been synthesized by using different “green” starting materials to prepare chalcogenide (Se and Te) precursors successfully. Air-sensitive compounds (alkylphosphine, such as trioctylphosphine (TOP) and tributylphosphine (TBP)) have been eliminated to use in the entire synthetic process. As surface coating agents, amphiphilic oligomer (polymaleic acid aliphatic alcohol ester) with different alkyl chain length has been utilized to form oligomer-coated water-soluble nanocrystals.