Five novel zinc(II) and cadmium(II) beta-oxodithioester complexes, [Zn(L1)(2)] (1), [Zn(L2)(2)](n) (2), [Zn(L3)(2)](n) (3) [Cd(L1)(2)](n) (4), [Cd(L2)(2)](n), (5), with beta-oxodithioester ligands, where L1 = 3-(me thylthio)-1-(thiophen-2-yl)-3-thi oxoprop-1-en-1-olate, L2 = 3-(methyl-thio)-1-(pyridin-3-yl)-3-thioxoprop-1-en-1-olate, and L3 = 3-(methylthio)-1-(pyridin-4-yl)-3-thioxoprop-1-en-1-olate, were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, UV-vis, and NMR spectroscopy (H-1 and C-13{H-1}). The solid-state structures of all complexes were ascertained by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. The beta-oxodithioester ligands are bonded to Zn(II)/Cd(II) metal ions in an (OS)-S-boolean AND and N chelating/chelating-bridging fashion leading to the formation of 1D (in 2-4) and 2D (in 5) coordination polymeric structures, but complex 1 was obtained as a discrete tetrahedral molecule. Complex 4 crystallizes in the C2 chiral space group and has been studied using circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. The multidimensional assemblies in these complexes are stabilized by many important noncovalent (ZnOSC3, chelate), pi center dot center dot center dot pi, C-H center dot center dot center dot pi, and H center dot center dot center dot H interactions. The catalytic activities of 1-5 in reactions involving C-C and C-O bond formation have been studied, and the results indicated that complex 3 can be efficiently utilized as a heterogeneous bifunctional catalyst for the Knoevenagel condensation and multicomponent reactions to develop biologically important organic molecules. The luminescent properties of complexes were also studied. Interestingly, zinc complexes 1-3 showed strong lumniscent emission in the solid state, whereas cadmium complexes 4 and 5 exhibited bright luminescent emission in the solution phase. The semiconducting behavior of the complexes was studied by solid-state diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS), which showed optical band gaps in the range of 2.49-2.62 eV.