A tripodal ligand, tris(2-pyridyl)carbinol, affords a novel tetradentate coordination mode in homodinuclear lanthanide complexes, which exhibit remarkably short distances between metal ions. The strong luminescences of Eu(III) and Tb(III) complexes with the ligand demonstrate that the ligand has a suitable excited state for energy transfer from the ligand to the Eu(III) and Tb(III) centers, respectively.