The chiral Schiff base coordination polymer [Ce(H2L)(3)(NO3)(3)Ce(H2L)(3)(NO3)(3)(H2O)](n) [H2L: trans-N,N'-bis(2-hydroxy-1-naphthalidehy-dene)-(1R,2R)-cyclohexanediamine] was synthesized and characterized by infrared spectroscopy, elemental analysis and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. X-ray crystallography shows that the Ce(III) coordinates with three neutral Schiff base ligands and three nitrates. One Ce(III) is nine-coordinated by three oxygen atoms from three different Schiff base ligands and six oxygen atoms from three nitrates, the other Ce(III) is ten-coordinated because of the coordination of an additional water molecule. Each Schiff base ligand serves as a bridging ligand to link Ce(III) ions through oxygen atoms, leading to a coordination polymer. The Ce(III) coordination polymer displays two dimensional plane grid network structure. The antiproliferation activities of the ligand H2L and its Ce(III) coordination polymer on MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells were also studied by MTT(3-[4,5-dimethyltiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) method. The results indicate that H2L and [Ce(H2L)(3)(NO3)(3)Ce(H2L)(3)(NO3)(3)(H2O)](n) can inhibit the cellularproliferation. Moreover, the coordination polymer had higher antiproliferative activity than that of the ligand. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.