New Eu-III Schiff base compounds and polyelectrolytes luminesce with quantum yields consistent with the intramolecular energy transfer mechanism established for Eu-III beta-diketone complexes. The emission spectra clearly show that the two Eu-III ions in Eu2L3 complexes, where L is a tetradentate Schiff base ligand, are in different environments, that the Na[Eu(L)(2)] complexes exhibit higher quantum yields than the corresponding Eu2L3 species, and that luminescence is negligible when the ligand triplet-state lies below the D-5(0) state of Eu-III.