In this paper, the synthesis of three new metal-organic frameworks of lanthanides (LnMOFs) {[Ln(2)(2,5-tdc)(3)(dmso)(2)]center dot H2O}(n) (Ln=Ho (1); Gd (2); Eu (3); 2,5-tdc=2,5-thiophenedicarboxylate anion; dmso=dimethylsulfoxide), and their complete characterization, including single crystal X-ray diffraction, FTIR spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis are reported. In especial, photophysical properties of Eu(III) complex have been studied in detail via both theoretical and experimental approaches. Crystal structure of (1) reveals that each lanthanide ion is seven-coordinated by oxygen atoms in an overall distorted capped trigonal - prismatic geometry. The 2,5-tdc(2-) ligands connect four Ln(III) centers, adopting (kappa(1)-kappa(1))-(kappa(1)-kappa(1))-mu(4) coordination mode, generating an 8-connected uninodal 3D network. In addition, theoretical studies for Eu(III) complex were performed using the Sparkle model for lanthanide complexes. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. ; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) ; Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) ; Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)