A mixture of 2D and 1D metal-organic complexes, [ZnL(H2O)(2)center dot G1 center dot DEF center dot 2H(2)O](n) (1a: G1 = naphthalene-2,7-disulfonate; DEF = N,N-diethylformamide) and [ZnL(H2O)(3)center dot G1 center dot DEF center dot 2H(2)O](n) (2), has been prepared from a hydrogenated Schiff base L and Zn(II) in a DEF-contained solvent system under mild conditions. The yields of 1a and 2 are equivalent; however, they can be tuned by varying the amount of DEF solvent. Increasing the use of DEF tends to form pure 1a, while decreasing it generates 2. Without DEF, another novel 3D four-connected CdSO4 (cds) framework [ZnL(H2O)(2)center dot G1 center dot 2H(2)O](n) (3) composed of alternated right-handed and left-handed helical chains has been constructed. The amount of DEF solvent has a significant impact on the diverse coordination architectures of 1-3, which is rare in the preparation of metal-organic complexes. The photoluminescence of complexes 1-3 along with naphthalene-2,7-disulfonate has been investigated in the solid state. The luminescent emission of G1 was enhanced greatly after being confined into metal-organic networks. In addition, complexes 1-3 display second-harmonic generation efficiencies, which are approximately 0.58, 0.42, 0.32, and 0.52 times as much as that of potassium dihydrogen phosphate.