Three d 10 tetranuclear complexes, [Cd 4 (1, 4 (2,2′-bipy) 4 (H 2 O) 8 ]·6H 2 O (1,8-nap = naphthalene-1,8-dicarboxylate and 2,2′-bipy = 2,2′-bipyridine) (1), [Cd 4 (1,8-nap) 4 (2,2′-bipy) 4 (H 2 O) 8 ]·6H 2 O (2) and [Zn 4 (1,8-nap) 4 (2,2′-bipy) 4 (H 2 O) 4 ]·2H 2 O (3), have been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions and characterized by elemental analyses, IR and X-ray diffraction techniques.Complexes 1 and 2 are isomers showing one-dimensional ribbon-like structures connected by O−H···O hydrogen bonds, and the one-dimensional ribbons are further linked into the three-dimensional network by - stacking. In complex 3, the intramolecular OH···O hydrogen bonds just exist in the inner of the single molecule ring to consolidate its structure, and the single molecules are further linked into a two-dimensional layer structure by the - stacking interactions. The luminescent properties reveal that all the complexes display luminescent properties in the violet region. crystal structure, d 10 metal, naphthalene-1,8-dicarboxylic anhydride, - stacking, hydrogen bond, violet luminescence