Three new coordination polymers [Zn(pda) (H 2 O)] n (1), [Ni(pda)(bib) 1.5 ] n (2) and [Mn 2 (pda) 2 (bimb)] n (3) [H 2 pda = 3,4 0 -biphenyl-dicarboxylic acid, bib = 4,4 0 -bis (2-imidazol-1-ylmethyl) biphenyl and bmib = 4,4 0 -bis (2-methylimidazol-1-ylmethyl)biphenyl] have been synthesized and structurally characterized by elemental analysis, IR and X-ray diffraction. Single-crystal X-ray analyses revealed that that pda ligand acts as bridging ligand, exhibiting rich coordination modes to link metal ions: monodentate, bidentate chelating, bis-monodentate and chelating/bridging fashions. Compound 1 and 2 demonstrate a one-dimensional chain. Compound 3 is a twodimensional (4,4) layer structure. Furthermore, the solid state luminescence spectrum of compound 1 is investigated at room temperature.