Using a hydrothermal reaction,a novel holmium-mercury compound {[Ho(IA)(HIA)2(H2O)2]2-(Hg3Br8)}n(nHgBr2)·2nNO3(1,HIA is isonicotinc acid)was synthesized and its crystal structure was characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.Compound 1 crystallizes in monoclinic system,space group P2lc with a =13.0647(6),b = 9.4659(3),c = 26.0832(14)?,β = 97.522(4)°,V= 3197.9(2)?3,C36H36Br10Hg4Ho2N8O22,Mr =2863.95,Z = 2,Dc = 2.974 g/cm3,μ(MoKα)= 18.331 mm-1 and F(000)= 2575.It displays a two-dimensional(2D)layer-like structure.A solid-state photoluminescence experiment revealed that it shows upconversion green emission.The emission peaks should come from the 5I8 → 5G6 and 5S2 →5I8 characteristic emission of the 4f electrons of the Ho3+ion.Compound 1 has a CIE chromaticity coordinate(0.1774,0.526).A solid-state UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectrum unveiled that this compound has a wide optical band gap of 3.26 eV.