In order to explore new coordination frameworks with novel designed 3-nitrophthalic acid and N-donor ancillary ligands, three novel coordination complexes, namely, [Co-2(3-NPA)(2)(2,2'-bipy)(2)(H2O)(2)]center dot 2H(2)O (1), [Mn-2(3-NPA)(2)(4,4'-bipy)(3)(H2O)(6)]center dot(4,4'-bipy) (2), and [Pb2O(3-NPA)](n) (3) (where 3-NPAH(2) = 3-nitrophthalic acid, 2,2'-bipy = 2,2'-bipyridine, 4,4'-bipy = 4,4'-bipyridine), have been hydrothermally synthesized. X-ray structure analysis reveals that 1 and 2 are dinuclear structures, while 3 is a two-dimensional (2D) network polymer. And the hydrogen bonds and pi-pi stacking also play important roles in affecting the final structure where complexes 1-2 have 3D and 2D supramolecular architectures, respectively. These complexes have been characterized by powder X-ray diffractions (PXRD) and thermal gravimetric analyses (TGA). In addition, their photochemical properties have also been investigated.