A novel three dimensional coordination polymer [Sm(2,5-pydc)(NO 3)(H 2 O)]•(H 2 O) (2,5-pydc = 2,5-pyridine dicarboxylate) (1) had been synthesized hydrothermally and characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. This coordination polymer crystallized in the monoclinic space group P2/n with cell parameters a = 9.3610(4) Å, b = 8.3498(3) Å, c = 16.7159(8) Å, β = 106.31(0) • , V = 1253.98(184) Å 3. Thermogravimetric analysis revealed that complex 1 is stable up to 400 • C which on photoexcitation at 365 nm exhibited yellow emission at 583 nm.