Three ternary rare earth [NdIII (1), SmIII (2) and YIII (3)] complexes based on 3‐[(4,6‐dimethyl‐2‐pyrimidinyl)thio]‐propanoic acid (HL) and 1,10‐phenanthroline (Phen) were synthesized and characterized by IR and UV/Vis spectroscopy, TGA, and single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction. The crystal structures showed that complexes 1–3 contain dinuclear rare earth units bridged by four propionate groups and are of general formula [REL3(Phen)]2·nH2O (for 1 and 2: n = 2; for 3: n = 0). All rare earth ions are nine‐coordinate with distorted mono‐capped square antiprismatic coordination polyhedra. Complex 1 crystallizes in the monoclinic system, space group P21/c with a = 16.241(7) Å, b = 16.095(7) Å, c = 19.169(6) Å, β = 121.48(2)°. Complex 2 crystallizes in the monoclinic system, space group P21/c with a = 16.187(5) Å, b = 16.045(4) Å, c = 19.001(4) Å, β = 120.956(18)°. Complex 3 crystallizes in the triclinic system, space group P1 with a = 11.390(6) Å, b = 13.636(6) Å, c = 15.958(7) Å, α = 72.310(17)°, β = 77.548(15)°, γ = 78.288(16)°. The antioxidant activity test shows that all complexes own higher antioxidant activity than free ligands.