Compounds between (R)-(+)-2-pyrrolidone-5-carboxylate (PCA) and rare earths are interesting due to the possible presence of a polarized luminescence character attributed to the chiral center. The salts were obtained by reaction between basic carbonates of rare earths with the ligand. CHN microanalysis, EDTA titration and thermogravimetry suggest the following general formula Ln(PCA) 3 .2H 2 O (Ln=La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Eu, Tb, and Ho). The infrared (IR) spectra of the compounds when compared with the free ligand show the νCO ring band at 1647cm - 1 is shifted to 1587cm - 1 and ν a s CO ring band at 1719cm - 1 shifted to 1676cm - 1 . The ν s CO bands due to the carboxylate anion appeared at 1427cm - 1 . These results show that the ligand is bidentate indicating an eight-coordination number. The photophysical properties were analyzed from the emission and absorption spectra. The compounds with Eu(III) and Tb(III) are luminescent, upon UV excitation, and present low symmetry around the rare earth ion.