A novel Cd-II-coordination framework [Cd(C4O4)(btb)(H2O)(2)](n) (1) constructed by squaric acid (H2C4O4) and secondary N-donor spacer 1,4-bis(1,2,4-triazol-4-yl)butane (btb) is presented, which displays 2D -> 3D inclined polycatenate framework consisting of two of sets of equivalent 2D 4(4)-sql layers and (4,6)-connected self-catenated H-bonding topology. In addition, the thermal stability and photo-luminescence property of 1 were also investigated. Crown Copyright (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.