Three isostructural three-dimensional (3D) lanthanide-based metal-organic frameworks [Ln2L(H2L)(NMP)2]·H2O (Ln=Sm ( 1 ), Eu ( 2 ), Gd ( 3 ); H4L=1,1′:4′,1″-terphenyl-2′,4,4″,5′-tetracarboxylic acid; NMP= N -methyl-2-pyrrolidone) have been synthesized and structurally characterized. In 1 – 3 , two Ln3+ ions are doubly-bridged by two oxygen atoms of two carboxylate groups to form the dinuclear Ln2(OCOO–)2 unit. Each Ln2(OCOO–)2 unit links with four H2L2− ligands and four L4− ligands to lead to the 3D framework, which can be rationalized as a new trinodal 4,4,8-connected (44.62)(45.6)(412.616) topological network by considering the dinuclear Ln2(OCOO–)2 units as 8-connected nodes and L4−/H2L2− ligands as planar 4-connected nodes, respectively. 1 and 3 exhibit blue emission originated from the ligand with the emission maximum at 384 nm, while 2 shows intense characteristic red emission of Eu3+ ions and weak ligand-centered emission. Moreover, 2 has fluorescent quenching response towards the aromatic nitro compounds, especially for the 3,4-dinitrotoluene (3,4-DNT) with the linear Stern-Volmer relationship in the concentration range of 0–1 mM and the quenching constant ( K sv) of 2.084×103 M−1.