A new molecular precursor was synthesized by means of the amidation reaction of N-Phenylanthranilic acid with a cross-linking molecule (3-aminopropyl) trimethoxysilane, and characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance and infrared spectroscopy. Then, a chemically bonded rare-earth/inorganic polymeric hybrid material was constructed using the precursor as a bridge molecule that can both coordinate to rare-earth ions and form a Si-O network with tetraethoxysilane or polyvinyl alcohol after cohydrolysis and copolycondensation processes. Ultraviolet absorption and fluorescence spectra were applied to characterize the photophysical properties of the obtained hybrid material. The strong luminescence of Tb(3+) substantiates optimum energy couple and effective intramolecular energy transfer between the triplet state energy of modified ligand bridge and emissive energy level of Tb(3+). Crown Copyright (C) 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.