A series of binary and ternary rare-earth compounds were synthesized by the reaction of terbium ion with p-aminohippuric (PAH, HL) acid and phenanthroline (phen) or 2,2’-bipyridine(2,2’-bpy) in the ethanol solution. The compositions of the complexes were deduced to be TbL3(1), TbL3·phen·H2O(2) and TbL3·bipy·H2O(3) by elemental analysis, TG-DTA, UV-Vis and IR, and the spectra and fluorescent properties of the complexes 1-3 were discussed. The oxygen atoms of the carboxylate group were coordinated with the rare-earth ion in bridging bidentate mode. The result shows that the higher the extent of the ligand coplanarity and conjugation, the better the fluorescent performance of the compound. The fluorescent intensity of the ternary complexes 2 and 3 are stronger than that of the binary complex 1.