By taking advantage of the synthetic 8-hydroxyquinoline derivative, (E)-242-(4-chlorophenyl)vinyl]-8-hydroxyquinoline (HL), three new metal-organic coordination compounds [Zn3L6] (1), [Cd3L6] (2) and [Cu2L4] (3) have been obtained by solvothermal or solution processing methods and structurally characterized. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that complexes 1 and 2 have similar trinuclear structures. Different from complexes 1 and 2 (trinuclear structure), complex 3 displays dinuclear structure. The effects of central metals and reaction solvents on the structures of complexes 1-3 have been discussed. Furthermore, thermogravimetric analysis and solid state fluorescence of ligand HL, 1-3 were investigated. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.