A novel ligand N,N'-(2,6-pyridinedicarbonyl)bis [N-(carboxymethyl)] (L 1 ) was designed and synthesized. Four co-luminescence groups of Sm-La-pyridyl carboxylic acids systems were researched, which areThe results indicated the addition of La(III) could sensitize the luminescence of Sm(III) obviously in a certain range, enhancing emission intensity of Sm-pyridyl carboxylic acids relative to the undoped ones. The optimal mole percentages of La(III) in the mixed ions for L 1 , L 2 , L 3 , L 4 were confirmed to be 0.6, 0.5, 0.3, 0.6, respectively. The mechanism of the fluorescence enhancement effect was discussed in detail. Furthermore, the binding interaction of K 4 Sm 0.4 La 0.6 (L 4 )Cl 3 ·5H 2 O with bovine serum albumin (BSA) have been investigated due to its potential biological activity. The binding site number n was equal to 1.0 and binding constant K a was about 2.5 × 10 5 L·mol −1.